Case Ref: 24 012 183 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to remind staff of the need to record all communications with familiesand confirm meeting arrangements.
• The Council has agreed to remind staff dealing with statutory children’s complaints of the criteria for early referral, and the need to consider whether redress for injustice or recommendations for service improvements are appropriate. It will be asking staff to attend our new workshops for complaints relating to children’s services.

Case Ref: 24 011 434 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has told the Ombudsman about the actions it is taking to address delays within its SEND team. However, considering the significant concerns raised in this case including delays with EHC Plans, lack of alternative provision, and not considering a request for a specialist school, the Council should share this decision with its relevant scrutiny committee or panel.

Case Ref: 24 009 366 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will provide written guidance to relevant staff members on when and how it should consider its section 19 duty to children who are not attending school. The guidance will include the importance of identifying those children through information provided on Education, Health and Care need assessment requests and communicating this to the relevant office or education welfare officers.
• The Council will review the capacity in its Education, Health and Care (EHC) team to identify the action it needs to take to ensure: EHC needs assessment and EHC Plan writing is conducted in line with the timescales set out in statutory guidance;it communicates with parents, children and young people at appropriate intervals during the process; andcomplaints are responded to without undue delay.The Council will create a specific, measurable and timebound action plan to complete any actions it has identified.

Case Ref: 24 005 201 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to share this decision with relevant staff to ensure that the Council keeps relevant contemporaneous notes about any decision it makes about its section 19 duty and remind relevant staff of the importance of issuing EHC Plans within the statutory timeframes, whether this is in time for phase transfer or following an annual review.

Case Ref: 24 009 660 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• the Council will provide an update on how it is ensuring the outstanding stage two investigations are progressing.

Case Ref: 24 008 706 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Refuse and recycling

• the Council has agreed to review its procedures for assessing a property’s eligibility for a wheelie bin or other type of waste collection container and make any changes needed to ensure there are clear and transparent criteria for decisions;
• the Council has agreed to review its procedures for assessing a property’s eligibility for a wheelie bin or other type of waste collection container and make any changes needed to ensure there is clear guidance in place for officers making decisions, including about how to check if the criteria have been met;
• the Council has agreed to review its procedures for assessing a property’s eligibility for a wheelie bin or other type of waste collection container and make any changes needed to ensure it keeps proper records to support consistency in decision making.

Case Ref: 24 007 176 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it has a proper process in place for considering its duty to provide a child whose EHE has been ended with a suitable education.
• The Council has agreed to share guidance about its policy and procedure in these cases with relevant officers.

Case Ref: 24 005 023 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Highway repair and maintenance

• Consider how often the gullies need cleaning.

Case Ref: 24 003 458 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will share a copy of the decision with its education welfare and special educational needs staff to identify learning from this complaint.

Case Ref: 24 001 518 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council agreed to send a written reminder to its Adult Social Care officers about the need to handle residents’ complaints in a timely manner by either responding directly or referring them its Feedback Team.