Service improvements

Cornwall Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024

Find out more about service improvements

When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.

Showing 1 - 10 of 14 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Cornwall Council as a CSV file.

  • Cornwall Council (23 003 004)

    Category: Education Date: 21-Dec-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council withdrew Child J’s school transport arrangements at short notice. She also complained about how the Council made this decision and about how it ensured it met Child J’s needs. We have found the Council at fault for its communication and for avoidable delay in trying to secure new transport arrangements. These faults caused Mrs X avoidable uncertainty and distress. We have not found the Council at fault for failing to risk-assess Child J’s transport arrangements, or for its approach to training. We have also not found the Council at fault for failing to discharge its duty to arrange school transport for Child J.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review the findings of our investigation at senior officer level, to identify wider points of learning. It has also agreed to share the findings of our investigation with relevant officers.

  • Cornwall Council (23 001 612)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council failed to provide alternative education provision for Child J, despite being aware he was not receiving a suitable education. Mrs X also complains the Council did not secure provision for Child J, leading her to incur costs to do so, and delayed issuing Child J’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. We have found the Council at fault for failing to respond to an annual review and for delays in issuing Child J’s EHC Plan. We have found the Council did not properly consider its duty to provide alternative provision to Child J. We have also found faults in complaint handling. These faults caused an injustice to Mrs X and Child J. We have made recommendations to remedy this injustice.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers of the Council's duties under law and guidance to provide alternative provision when a child of statutory school age is out of school for health reasons. The Council will share a copy of our focus report Out of school...Out of sight? and our final decision when doing so.

  • Cornwall Council (23 000 941)

    Category: Education Date: 18-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to ensure her son, C, received the provision outlined in his education, health and care plan and received full-time education. The Council failed to check whether C was receiving the provision outlined in his plan and failed to ensure he received full-time equivalent education when he was placed at an alternative provision school. The Council will apologise, make payment for the loss of education and take action to prevent reoccurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff they should check to ensure a child is receiving the EHC provision they are entitled to when there is a new or substantially different EHC plan or a change of placement.

  • Cornwall Council (22 017 751)

    Category: Planning Date: 17-Oct-2023

    Summary

    Mr F complained about how the Council dealt with his report of a breach of planning control by his neighbour and the outcome of its investigation. We found the Council at fault for causing an unnecessary delay to investigate the breach. However, there was no fault in the process it followed to reach its view. It therefore made a decision it was entitled to make. The Council should apologise to Mr F and make payment to remedy the distress and uncertainty he experienced as a result of its delays.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review how it ensures it can meet the approximate timescales set out in its Enforcement Policy and Flowchart for uncomplicated cases, including how it informs complainants about delays which may occur to limit their expectations.

  • Cornwall Council (22 015 647)

    Category: Planning Date: 25-Jul-2023

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to act against builders who blocked a visibility splay outlined in the planning conditions for the site. We found fault with the Council making typographical errors in the planning condition preventing effective enforcement action. The Council agreed apologise to Ms X and provide training to staff.

    Service improvements

    Provide training to staff about the importance of ensuring planning conditions are accurate and specific. The Council should highlight the potential implications of errors in planning conditions on the planning enforcement team and the public

  • Cornwall Council (22 014 988)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her child D with suitable education and support for their special educational needs. There was fault by the Council which caused D to miss education and special educational needs support. It also caused avoidable distress for D, and avoidable distress, time, and trouble for Mrs X. The Council agreed to apologise, agree reasonable adjustments it will make for Mrs X, and pay a financial remedy. It will also review processes and issue reminders to its staff.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to share a copy of our final decision with all staff who work in its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service, and its complaints service. It will remind them of the Council’s duties under the Equality Act 2010, including the reasonable adjustment duty.The Council agreed to issue reminders to all relevant staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service:that where a child’s parents or young person asks for Education Otherwise than at School (EOTAS) arrangements to be specified in the EHC plan, the Council must consider and respond to this request;that where a child’s parents or young person asks for a personal budget during an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan review, the Council must consider and respond to this request; andabout the importance of communicating properly with families, responding to specific queries, and keeping them updated about any delays.The Council agreed to issue reminders to staff involved in the complaint response in this case, that when the Council accepts fault it should consider how it can put things right for the complainant, in line with the Ombudsman’s guide, ‘Effective complaint handling for local authorities’.

  • Cornwall Council (22 014 987)

    Category: Planning Date: 18-Dec-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complains about planning processes, planning decisions and an enforcement decision made by the Council. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault. We found that an issue with the Council’s internal mapping service led to Mr X not being notified about a planning application, and that the matter has not yet been unresolved. We have not seen evidence of further fault regarding planning processes, planning decisions and enforcement decisions made by the Council. The Council have agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    Explain what it will do to resolve the matter that is preventing Mr X being notified about planning applications. I understand this to be updating its internal mapping service.

  • Cornwall Council (22 014 122)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Oct-2023

    Summary

    Ms Y complained the Council delayed completing her child’s Education, Health and Care needs assessment and issuing an Education Health and Care plan. She also complained the Council failed to make any alternative provision for her child when she was unable to attend school. We have found fault by the Council in failing to complete the assessment and plan within the statutory timescales. We have also found fault by the Council in failing to make alternative provision for the child in the period from March to September 2022, and with its complaint handling. These faults have caused injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Ms Y, making payments to recognise the impact on the child of the missed education, and to reflect Ms Y’s uncertainty, distress, time and trouble, together with service improvements.

    Service improvements

    the Council has agreed to report to us on:any action it has taken to address the issues in completing EHC needs assessments within the statutory timescales due to delays in receiving advice from Educational Psychologists;the outcome of the action it proposed to take to address delays in its complaint handling (as set out in paragraphs 64 and 65 above); andthe outcome of its comprehensive review and reorganisation of the Education Welfare Service, and its section 19 duties (as set out in paragraph 66 above).

  • Cornwall Council (22 011 687)

    Category: Education Date: 11-Apr-2023

    Summary

    The complainant, Mrs X, complained that the Council failed to provide her son with alternative education for seven months and said the Council’s communication has been poor. We find the Council at fault. This caused significant stress to Mrs X who spent time and money in ensuring her son received an education at home. The Council has agreed to several recommendations to address the injustice caused by these faults.

    Service improvements

    Issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware of:• The Council’s duties under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to provide provision or suitable education for children of compulsory age who cannot attend school because of exclusion, medical reasons or otherwise.• The Department for Education statutory guidance which says where specific medical evidence,such as that provided by a medical consultant, is not quickly available,councils should consider liaising with other medical professionals, such as the child’s GP, and consider looking at other evidence to ensure minimal delay inarranging appropriate provision for the child.

  • Cornwall Council (22 010 883)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Jun-2023

    Summary

    We found fault by the Council on Mrs J’s complaint about it failing to ensure her son received suitable alternative education provision. The evidence does not show if, and how, it considered and decided whether it had a duty to provide it. There were periods of delay, and opportunities to progress were lost. It failed to deal with her complaint properly. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review procedures to ensure proper consideration is given to whether it needs to make alternative provision on a relevant case which includes making clear documented decisions which explain issues and evidence considered.The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to: record whether meetings took place; avoid periods of delay; chase to rearrange cancelled meetings and minutes of multiagency meetings.The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to properly consider, decide,and document decisions about whether it needs to make section 19 alternative provision.The Council agreed to review why the complaint procedure was not followed and act to ensure the delay in responding does not happen on future cases.

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