Service improvements

Cornwall Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2027

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 37 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 (25 004 700)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Apr-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault. It delayed issuing Miss X’s child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care Plan in line with the statutory timescales. It also failed to properly consider the education Y received between November 2024 and mid-December 2025. The Council will pay Miss X a symbolic payment for the frustration and her delayed appeal rights, apologise and pay Miss X a symbolic payment for the uncertainty it caused her. The Council will put in place a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review how it makes and stores clear and accurate records of section 19 decision making.

  • Cornwall Council (25 008 295)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Jan-2026

    Summary

    We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to deal with his late appeal against its decision to reject school travel assistance for his child. This is because the Council has agreed to consider Mr X’s appeal and amend its policy so it can consider late appeals in certain circumstances. Therefore, an investigation by us would not be proportionate.

    Service improvements

    Council has also agreed to amend its policy to allow it discretion to accept late appeals in certain circumstances (within 2 months)

  • Cornwall Council (25 001 722)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Mar-2026

    Summary

    We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in completing her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan because Mrs X took legal action against the Council. We have investigated Mrs X’s complaint about the alternative education provided while her child had no school place. We find some fault in that the Council failed to consider properly the suitability of the alternative provision. The Council has agreed the recommended ways to remedy the injustice. Accordingly, we are closing the complaint.

    Service improvements

    the Council will consider whether it should provide guidance to officers about how they should determine the number of hours tuition to be given, the type of tuition and how often this should be reviewed.

  • Cornwall Council (25 000 945)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Feb-2026

    Summary

    Mr B complained that the Council, in respect of his son, D, failed to complete a needs assessment and issue an Education, Health and Care Plan within the statutory timescales. He also complained the Council had failed to provide alternative education for D since he stopped attending school. We found fault in the actions of the Council which caused distress and inconvenience to Mr B and D to miss out on essential education and support. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B and D, make a symbolic payment and provide evidence of the steps it has taken to improve implementation of its policy on alternative provision.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide a review of the actions it has taken to improve staff knowledge and implementation of the Section 19 policy since April 2025, particularly following the referral to the Standards and Scrutiny Committees in July 2025.

  • Cornwall Council (24 020 298)

    Category: Education Date: 25-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of a child in need assessment and decision. We found fault by the Council for its failure to consider her complaint through the children’s statutory complaints process. It agreed to start this process without delay, apologise to Ms X, and make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the delay and trouble this caused her.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review why the it did not consider Ms X’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaint process. It should then ensure appropriate training or reminders are provided to relevant staff to ensure complaints are correctly considered and responded to under the correct complaints process without delay.

  • Cornwall Council (24 016 644)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council failed to arrange alternative provision for her son (Y) when he could not attend his school and failed to complete an Annual Review of his Education Health and Care Plan. We found fault with the Council. This fault caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council has agreed to apologise and make symbolic payments. The Council has also agreed to carry out some service improvements of its Annual Review process.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its Annual Review process to ensure the relevant team send the parents or the young person the Council’s decision within four weeks from an Annual Review meeting. If the Council intends to amend a child’s EHC Plan, within the same timescale it should also send proposed amendments.The Council will remind the SEN staff dealing with Annual Reviews of the mandatory stages of the process and the statutory timescales.

  • Cornwall Council (24 011 826)

    Category: Education Date: 24-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to fulfil its duty to provide alternative provision when her son, Z, was unable to attend school. We have found the Council at fault for repeatedly failing to consider whether it owed a section 19 duty. This caused Z an injustice in the form of lost education provision between January 2024 and May 2024. We have not found the Council’s faults caused an injustice before January 2024. We have not investigated a loss of provision after May 2024, for the reasons set out in this statement. We have also found the Council at fault for its communication and complaints handling. The Council has agreed to apologise, increase the financial remedy previously offered, and provide guidance to relevant officers.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share a copy of the Ombudsman's focus report Out of school, out of sight? with relevant officers, alongside the findings of the Ombudsman's investigation. This is to emphasise the Council's responsibility to decide whether it owes a child a duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, as well as the Ombudsman's expectations of good practice in adhering to this duty.

  • Cornwall Council (24 011 434)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that since 2021, the Council has not updated her child Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan or provided Y with an education. We find the Council at fault, resulting in a loss of education for Y. This has impacted Y’s mental health and caused Mrs X avoidable distress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mrs X, and issue a final amended Education, Health and Care Plan.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Cornwall Council (24 009 634)

    Category: Education Date: 08-May-2025

    Summary

    We have found fault with the Council for failing to consider its duties under Section 19 of the Education Act. It did not arrange alternative provision for Miss X’s son when he was unable to attend school. He missed out on nearly a year of education and special educational need provision. The Council agreed to remedy this injustice.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff of the need to make a Section 19 decision regardless of whether the child is on roll at a school.

  • Cornwall Council (24 009 366)

    Category: Education Date: 14-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide alternative education for her child Y when they were unable to attend school between September 2023 and August 2024. Mrs X also complained the Council delayed in completing an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and issuing an EHC Plan for Y. The Council failed to consider if it should provide Y alternative provision and delayed issuing an EHC Plan for Y for 35 weeks which resulted in Y missing out on some special educational provision for two academic terms. The Council will make a payment to Mrs X to recognise the injustice caused by the faults and act to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    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.

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