Service improvements

Cumbria County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 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 - 4 of 4 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 (22 013 705)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Dec-2023

    Summary

    Ms X complains the Council failed to make alternative education provision for her daughter Y when she could not attend school. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council made its decision that it did not have a duty to provide alternative education provision for Y. The Council is at fault for not recording its decision that Y’s high school could meet her needs, for not providing an update to Ms X as to whether it would commence legal proceedings and for failing to consider Ms X’s complaint in accordance with its complaints procedure. These faults caused distress to Ms X which the Council will remedy by apologising and making a symbolic payment of £200 to her.

    Service improvements

    Review its record keeping procedures to ensure officers keep a clear record of their decisions about whether education provision is accessible to a child out of school and whether it owes a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to make alternative education provision.Ensure officers notify parents/guardians in writing regarding of its decisions on whether education is reasonably accessible and whether it has a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to make alternative education provision.

  • 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 (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 (20 004 844)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Oct-2021

    Summary

    Mrs Y complains the Council failed to review her daughter’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and provide suitable alternative educational provision when her placement broke down. The Ombudsman finds the Council at fault for failing to complete the Annual Review process and to fully assess whether the alternative provision provided was suitable. This caused B and Mrs Y distress and confusion, and delayed Mrs Y’s appeal rights to the SEND Tribunal. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to: apologise to Mrs Y and B, issue B’s final EHC Plan, make a payment to them and make several service improvements.

    Service improvements

    the Council has also agreed to make the following service improvement: review its guidance to staff on the Council’s section 19 legal duty to provide suitable alternative educational provisionthe Council has also agreed to make the following service improvement: provide training to relevant members of staff on what to do when a placement breaks down and the Council’s section 19 legal duty to provide suitable alternative educational provision;the Council has also agreed to make the following service improvement: produce and publish a statement on how it can help children with EHC Plans who are out of school.the Council has also agreed to make the following service improvement: review any other cases where Annual Reviews are currently outstanding for the 2021/22 academic year, specifically when the child or young person’s placement has broken down, and produce an action plan about how it intends to address this.the Council has also agreed to make the following service improvement: share this decision with relevant members of staff involved in the EHC Plan review process.

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