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 31 - 40 of 71 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 (23 014 145)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 15-Oct-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed in its statutory duty to assert and protect the rights of the public in respect of an obstruction on a public right of way. We found evidence of delay by the Council in acting to resolve this matter. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X, make her a symbolic payment and decide what action it will take about the obstruction.

    Service improvements

    The Council will complete a review of its handling of a report of an obstruction on a public right of way. It will explain what action it will take to prevent a recurrence of the delays identified in this complaint.

  • Cornwall Council (23 013 768)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Jul-2024

    Summary

    We have found fault with the Council for not delivering suitable alternative educational provision for Mr X’s son after he was excluded from school. He missed a term of education that affected his learning and behaviour. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice.

    Service improvements

    Provide a list of alternative education providers that can be considered in the future to ensure that ‘lack of placements’ is not a reason for not delivering alternative provision.

  • Cornwall Council (23 013 763)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 29-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Ms D says the Council’s care provider provided poor home care support for her mother. As a result, she says her mother was admitted to hospital several times. There was fault by the Council, causing Ms D distress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed a remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind officers they should consider complaints regarding commissioned local adult care providers in accordance with the Council’s policy.The Council has agreed to remind officers they should make referrals to the safeguarding team for consideration when a person reports neglect by a local adult care provider.

  • Cornwall Council (23 012 033)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 23-Jul-2024

    Summary

    Mr D complains the Council failed to provide him with social care and housing support. The Council failed to properly assess Mr D’s needs and offer support to help him meet his housing need. To remedy the complaint the Council has agreed to make Mr D a symbolic payment, make procedural improvements and provide staff training.

    Service improvements

    The Council should:-a) remind staff either by a staff circular or team meetings about the importance of reviewing care packages within the statutory periods, or more regularly if needed;b) remind staff either by a staff circular or team meetings about the duty to offer suitable alternative accommodation when it has identified both relief and main housing duties.

  • Cornwall Council (23 009 624)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to put in place suitable alternative provision for her child, Z. Mrs X also complained the Council delayed completing an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment, delayed deciding whether to issue an EHC Plan, and handled her complaint poorly. We have found the Council at fault. We have made recommendations to address the injustice this caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share the findings the Ombudsman's investigation and our focus report Out of school, out of sight? with relevant officers. This is to emphasise the Council's Section 19 responsibilities and identify wider points of learning.The Council will remind relevant officers of the timescales that apply when the SEND Tribunal decides the Council must complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.The Council will review the processes it has in place for seeking Occupational Therapy assessments for Education, Health and Care Plans, to identify and address any avoidable delays in these procedures.

  • Cornwall Council (23 009 328)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Jun-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained that the Council delayed in completing an education, health and care needs assessment for her daughter and failed to make suitable alternative educational provision for her when she was unable to attend school. We found the Council delayed in completing the assessment. It has agreed to make a payment to Ms X in recognition of the injustice caused by this. We also found there was fault in how the Council recorded its decision that the education on offer was available and accessible. But this did not cause an injustice.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed that it will issue a reminder to relevant staff of the need to ensure there are contemporaneous written records of the reasons for decisions on the suitability of education and whether it is reasonably available and accessible to the child.

  • Cornwall Council (23 003 073)

    Category: Planning Date: 01-Nov-2024

    Summary

    X complained the Council failed to protect their amenity from the unlawful use of land near their home. X said the use caused significant disturbance, upset and stress. We found fault because there was delay in beginning enforcement action and informing other Council departments. The Council has agreed to pay X a financial sum and make improvements to its policy and practice that might help avoid the fault happening again.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault for delay in beginning planning enforcement action and referring nuisance issues to environmental health officers. To reduce the chances of the fault happening again the Council agreed to review its service provision, practices and policy. It will review the adequacy of its enforcement policy and consider setting clear expectations and guidance to inform the public and its officers on how it will prioritise individual cases.

  • Cornwall Council (23 001 505)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Apr-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to correctly administer her homelessness application and assess her housing circumstances between 2021 and 2023. She also said the Council wrongly advised her not to apply to its Welfare Panel. We have found the Council at fault for how it administered Mrs X’s homelessness application. These faults caused uncertainty about whether the Council could have secured suitable interim accommodation for Mrs X in 2021. This uncertainty is an injustice to Mrs X. We have also found the Council’s faults led to Mrs X missing an opportunity to secure suitable permanent accommodation in 2023. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice this caused. We have not found the Council at fault for wrongly advising Mrs X not to apply to its Welfare Panel earlier.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers of the importance of keeping proper, suitable records. It will ask its officers to review the Ombudsman's Principles of Good Administrative Practice when issuing this reminder.The Council will remind relevant officers the Council may engage the relief housing duty immediately, if it believes an applicant cannot reasonably remain in occupation in their current accommodation.The Council has agreed to review the findings of the Ombudsman's investigation at senior officer level, to identify wider points of learning.The Council will update its published housing allocations scheme document to reflect the change in priority banding it introduced in 2022 for applicants owed the main housing duty. This will bring the published scheme in line with updated information published on the Council's website.

  • Cornwall Council (22 014 215)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Jun-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to provide an education and special educational provision for her child when she deregistered them from the school roll. She also complained about delays reviewing an education, health and care plan. Ms X said this caused unnecessary distress and frustration, and her child missed out on education. We find the Council at fault, and this caused injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X, and improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its practice to make sure there is a written record of the Council telling parents of the consequences of deregistering their child from the school roll. The Council should get parents to sign this to prove the Council has explained this.

  • Cornwall Council (22 013 478)

    Category: Education Date: 14-Oct-2024

    Summary

    The Council significantly delayed in its complaint handling but has now taken action to improve its services. The Council was not at fault for failing to secure the provision in Mr Z’s EHC Plan but it failed to review Mr Z’s EHC Plan when it should have. This caused uncertainty to Mr Z and Ms X. In recognition of the injustice caused by the faults in this case, the Council should apologise, pay £500 and take action to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to demonstrate that it has reminded Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) staff that where a child or young person’s circumstances around their education changes, the Council must review their Education, Health and Care Plan to ensure they have an up-to-date record of their education and SEN provision.

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