Case Ref: 25 005 225 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• Within one month, the Council remind relevant staff that complaints about Section 17 assessments should be considered under the statutory procedure.

Case Ref: 24 022 418 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Highway repair and maintenance

• •share a copy of this decision with relevant staff, including those responsible for responding to service users’ enquiries. Remind them about the importance of properly considering and responding in a timely manner to service users’ enquiries, concerns and complaints about highway and maintenance issues
• •ensure the Council proactively and properly considers efficient ways to complete remedial work to resolve highway and maintenance issues it receives from service users. And ensure the Council also completes remedial works in a timely manner
• •provide the Ombudsman with updates on the Council’s service improvements it mentioned in its response to our enquiries. Updates on the Council’s:a)preventive maintenance strategy to avoid highway slurry seal spillage recurrenceb)monitoring process outcome of its recently conducted trial of new material which was thought to be a better solution for steeper sites.
• •review the Council’s process and procedure on how it monitors the roadworks undertaken by its commissioned contractors. This is to ensure its contractors complete roadworks which meet the Council’s expected standards.

Case Ref: 24 019 922 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council will remind staff, either through training or a briefing note, of the importance of considering relevant eligibility tests and other matters in line with the statutory guidance on children’s statutory complaints procedure.

Case Ref: 24 015 684 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• Review its process for monitoring outstanding social care assessments to ensure it identifies overdue assessments and takes appropriate action to avoid future delays.
• Review how it monitors and records complaints to ensure it issues responses to all formal complaints, even if it believes the issues have been resolved.

Case Ref: 24 015 638 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council has a s.19 policy and framework, but the policy was not followed in this case. The Council will reflect on why this happened in this case and provide the Ombudsman with a list of remedial actions it will take to ensure similar cases do not fall through the net and its policy is followed in future.

Case Ref: 24 012 631 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Looked after children

• Following an investigation under the children's statutory complaint process, the Council agreed to review its practice around arranging child in care reviews and carry out a quality assurance exercise on its social work practice. The Council will update the Ombudsman on the changes to its social work practice standards and the quality assurance work agreed.
• Following an investigation under the children's statutory complaint process, the Council agreed to develop good practice for its children's homes around the handling of young people's belongings. The Council will update the Ombudsman on the changes to its policies and procedures around ownership of items in young person's care placements agreed.
• The Council failed to make its findings clear in a stage one complaint response under the children's statutory complaint process. It will review its approach to stage one statutory children's complaints to ensure its findings on each complaint are clear.

Case Ref: 24 011 249 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Transition from childrens services

• The Council will draw up an action plan to address the backlog in adult social care assessments. If the Council already has an action plan it should provide a copy of that to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 24 008 530 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• Review its process for monitoring outstanding social care assessments to ensure it identifies overdue assessments and takes appropriate action to avoid future delays.
• Review how it monitors and records complaints to ensure it issues responses to all formal complaints, even if it believes the issues have been resolved.

Case Ref: 24 007 013 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• •Remind relevant staff of the Council’s duties in adhering to the statutory timescales when completing EHC needs assessments.

Case Ref: 24 011 848 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Transition from childrens services

• The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they complete a Care Act 2014 assessment and create a care and support plan in good time to ensure a smooth transition from children’s services to adult care services. If adult care and support is not in place on the child’s 18th birthday, the Council should continue providing services until adult care and support is in place to take over.