Case Ref: 23 003 097 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council will remind staff in the medical needs tuition team that when considering a referral for a child's tuition, the test they should apply is whether the child would receive a suitable education without the Council making arrangements.
• The Council should provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has completed the training programme for staff on the new alternative provision school referral process.
• The Council should remind staff that the recommendations they make for service improvements as part of complaint responses should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-limited).

Case Ref: 23 001 848 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council is already reviewing its process for carrying out Education, Health and Care plan reviews. It will provide the Ombudsman with details of that review, including the steps it is taking to ensure annual reviews are completed in line with statutory timescales.
• The Council will ensure that where officers from its Inclusion Quality team make observations about specific pupils with special educational needs, they will make a record for the child's case file.
• The Council's Special Educational Needs and Disability training manager will ensure learning from the case is included in the Council's rolling training programme, and particularly that the Council either arranges a review or ensures by some other means that it has full and up-to-date information about a child's needs before considering a change of placement request or consulting with alternative schools.

Case Ref: 22 017 787 Category: Other Categories Sub Category: Other

• The Council will check the heat pump in the Market and confirm it is working correctly and undertake any necessary remedial works if it is found to be defective.
• The Council will monitor the temperature in the Market for a period of six weeks to confirm it meets the guidance set out in the Approved Code of Practice on the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations.
• The Council will review if any immediate action is required to improve the Market’s temperature including the maintenance of the air curtains, installation of thermometers, temporary heating fans and its remote temperature management system.

Case Ref: 22 014 684 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review its procedures to improve timeliness for Education Health and Care plan annual reviews and provide the Ombudsman with an action plan of any key actions it has taken or intends to take.

Case Ref: 22 014 515 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Highway repair and maintenance

• The Council agreed to remind complaint officers of the need to ensure new reports raised during the complaints procedure are referred promptly through to the appropriate department.

Case Ref: 22 013 706 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Share learning from this decision with staff to ensure they are aware of the importance of issuing an EHC Plan within the required timescale following a SEND Tribunal order, and arranging the provision to start from the date the plan is issued.

Case Ref: 22 013 136 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will share learning from this complaint with staff to ensure that when early reviews are held these are accompanied by clear timescales about next steps including when the Education, Health and Care plan will be updated with any new placement.

Case Ref: 22 011 312 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Direct payments

• The Council will remind relevant staff that where discrepancies arise in audits of direct payments for adult social care needs, to ensure the reasons for this are clearly explained to the person.
• The Council will remind relevant staff of the importance of providing clear and transparent information to people using direct payments for their adult social care needs, to ensure people understand their responsibilities when accessing direct payments both at the point of arranging them and following any audit.

Case Ref: 22 000 449 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Refuse and recycling

• TheCouncil will arrange to monitor the situation with the bins in the complainant's area withinthe limited resources available to it. Patrols will be put in place by officersfrom the relevant Council department to monitor fly-tipping and we will usethis resource as a way to monitor the situation.

Case Ref: 22 005 333 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council should have reviewed its policies and procedures for situations where it is informed a child is missing education. It should ensure that it has systems in place to take decisive action when it becomes aware a child is missing education. It should provide evidence of this review to the Ombudsman.