Service improvements

Cumbria County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 - 8 of 8 cases with service improvements

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

  • Cumbria County Council (22 010 820)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 08-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council has delayed investigating his complaint at stage three of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The delay has caused frustration and distress and means his complaint remains unresolved. The Council is at fault. It has agreed to hold the stage three panel within 30 working days and pay Mr X £200 in recognition of the frustration and distress caused by the delay. It will also review its procedures.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers that stage 3 panels held under the childrens statutory complaints procedure should be conducted within 30 working days of the request, and if officer availabilty is causing delay, the panel chair has discretion to decide to proceed without them.

  • Cumbria County Council (22 008 801)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council did not provide her child, Y, with alternative provision when they were unable to attend school for several months due to mental health matters. The Council was at fault. It did not consider whether it had a statutory duty to provide alternative provision for Y as soon as it became aware. The Council has agreed it will apologise to Mrs X and Y for the distress, frustration and uncertainty the matter caused them and for the education Y missed. The Council will make a symbolic payment to Mrs X and Y to recognise this. The Council will also remind staff of the duty it needs to consider to arrange alternative provision for children out of school due to health reasons, in line with guidance.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant staff that it has a duty to consider individual circumstances in deciding whether it has a statutory duty to provide alternative provision for children out of school due to illness, exclusion or otherwise.

  • Cumbria County Council (22 006 918)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 14-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed investigating her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. She said the delay caused her frustration and distress. The Council was at fault as failed to complete the stage two investigation within the statutory timescales. The Council has agreed to complete the stage two investigation within 65 working days, pay Mrs X £100 in recognition of the frustration and distress caused and review its procedures.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its arrangements for completing investigations at stage two of the children's statutory complaints procedure to ensure it has sufficient resources in place to comply with the statutory timescales.

  • Cumbria County Council (22 003 251)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 07-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council failed to properly consider his application for a parking permit before rejecting it. We find fault with the Council for not addressing Mr X’s points, causing him frustration, time and trouble. We have agreed a remedy to re-consider the application.

    Service improvements

    Within three months of the final decision the Council should have guidance on how discretion is exercised, if none already exists.

  • Cumbria County Council (22 001 452)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 19-Sep-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to treat his wife as having deprived herself of capital in order avoid care charges when they gave their home to a daughter. The Council was at fault over the way it made its decision. It therefore needs to reconsider its decision to make sure there is no fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide evidence it has taken action to ensure officers deal withdecisions on deprivation of capital properly in future.

  • Cumbria County Council (21 012 509)

    Category: Education Date: 27-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B complained about how Cumbria County Council considered her application and appeal for home to school transport for her child. The Council wrongly relied on a blanket policy that failed to take into account the safety of the route to boarding/alighting point or the difficulties in accessing this. The Council has since made new arrangements for home to school transport, and has agreed to make changes to its policy.

    Service improvements

    Because of local government restructuring in the Cumbria region in April 2023, the Council will take the following actions to address the systemic issues this complaint identified: •review and amend that part of school transport policy which states it does not assess the safety of routes to pick up points. The Council should consider changes to the policy to ensure it complies with the statutory guidance and make clear that it will consider the suitability of arrangements for the entirety of the route to school including safety of routes to pick up points in future; and •share the learning from its review with the Chief Executives, Monitoring Officers and relevant Portfolio holders at Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness Councils

  • Cumbria County Council (21 009 380)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 21-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Mr C complained about the Council’s response to various highways matters which he says caused him avoidable distress and time and trouble. We have found fault in the Council’s complaint handling but consider the agreed action of an apology, £250 and a review of its procedure provide a suitable remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its complaints procedure and resources to ensure a timely response can be provided at all stages and complainants are kept informed where this is not possible.

  • Cumbria County Council (21 007 659)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the level of care provided to her mother, Ms Y, in the last few days of her life by the care home. She also complained about the clearing of Ms Y’s room and the way her belongings were handled. There were failings in the care home’s records in the last few days of Ms Y’s life and it failed to properly safeguard her belongings after her death. The Council, which commissioned the care, should apologise, pay Mrs X £250 and ensure the care home takes action to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will arrange for Two Acres care home to remind relevant staff about keeping full records of the care provided, including the reason(s) for not offering food and drink or medication when providing end of life care.The Council will arrange for Two Acres care home to develop a written process for dealing with deceased resident's belongings including, where the room is cleared by care home staff, a record of items that will be stored and the method of storage, to ensure belongings are kept safe.

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