Service improvements

Durham 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 - 9 of 9 cases with service improvements

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

  • Durham County Council (22 008 257)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mrs T complained the Council said her mother, Mrs X, would not have to pay for her stay in a care home. Mrs T stated the Council completed a financial assessment a year later and charged Mrs X retrospectively. Mrs T said the Council failed to consider if Mrs X could afford to pay the charges. The Council failed to conduct a financial assessment in line with the statutory guidance and failed to tell Mrs T about Mrs X’s contributions for eleven months. The Council agreed to write off the charges until the date of the financial assessment and apologise to Mrs T for the distress it caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure it tells relevant officers to provide information leaflets on charging to people receiving adult social care at the earliest opportunity, even where a financial assessment will be delayed.

  • Durham County Council (22 006 410)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B complained that the Council in respect of her son C’s special educational needs, failed to provide adequate full-time education when he was unable to attend school, delayed in carrying out an adequate social care assessment or provide social support to enable a successful transition to college, and failed to communicate properly with her throughout this period. We found fault with the Council’s actions. The Council has agreed to increase its payment to Mrs B and C and improve its monitoring of alternative education provision.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed, within three months, to review themonitoring of alternative educational provision to ensure it regularly assesses if the provision remains suitable.

  • Durham County Council (22 005 725)

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

    Summary

    Mr and Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to stop Special Guardianship (SG) Allowance payments in respect of their niece, F. The Council’s decision to stop the payment was in line with its policy. However, the appeal panel’s report is flawed and does not show how the panel considered relevant evidence Mr and Mrs X submitted. The Council agreed to hold a new appeal review with a fresh panel to remedy the uncertainty this has caused. It will also pay Mr and Mrs X £509.81 after it found it had underpaid their SG Allowance during 2019.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind relevant officers who sit on review panels for Special Guardianship Allowance payments to ensure their reports and conclusions accurately reflect the evidence submitted by appellants and explain their reasons.

  • Durham County Council (22 005 552)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 10-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained about a lack of guidance and information from the Council about the charges for his late mother’s care at a care home. The Council was at fault for the delay in providing information about care charges and in carrying out a financial assessment. This meant Mr X received a large and unexpected care bill and Mrs Y was unable to make an informed decision about her care. The Council has agreed to apologise and write off some of the care charges. It has also agreed to ensure financial information is provided to care home residents at the point of assessment.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to ensure clear information, in writing, is provided about the potential for future care charges by the Council’s hospital based social workers when patients are discharged into residential care from hospital.The Council has agreed to ensure the factsheet on charging for residential care is provided at the same time as the Council carries out a needs assessment for residential care so that people are made aware of the potential charges as soon as possible.

  • Durham County Council (22 002 850)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about how the appeal panel considered her appeal for her child at a preferred school. There were some faults in how the panel considered Mrs X’s appeal. As a result, Mrs X cannot be satisfied the appeal process was carried out fairly. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council will arrange a fresh appeal with a different panel and clerk for the hearing.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to:•by training or other means remind panels of the need to consider and satisfy themselves at stage 1 that the admission arrangements were correctly applied, in line with statutory guidance•by training or other means remind clerks of the need to record robust and clear reasons for the panel’s decision at both stages of the appeal process.

  • Durham County Council (21 019 049)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Nov-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained on behalf of Mr Y about how the Council handled Mr Y’s care charges. There was fault by the Council in how it delayed changing and informing Mrs X about Mr Y’s increased contributions. The Council also failed to explain Mr Y’s revised charges to Mrs X in a timely manner. This caused Mrs X uncertainty, confusion and the time and trouble chasing and complaining to the Council. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to:•provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the Council’s implementation of its new online financial assessments after its introduction in April 2023 (next financial year)•provide the Ombudsman with an explanation and evidence of how the Council will monitor the performance of its new online financial assessment process to ensure service users are notified of any changes in their care fees contributions in a timely manner.

  • Durham County Council (21 014 061)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Jun-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council incorrectly decided not to prosecute his former landlord for unlawful eviction. We do not find the Council at fault. However, we find the Council at fault in how it handled Mr X’s reasonable adjustments to accommodate his disability-related needs. We find this caused Mr X distress and uncertainty. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, make him a payment and circulate guidance to staff.

    Service improvements

    the Council has also agreed to circulate a reminder to relevant staff about ensuring people are routinely asked or prompted about any reasonable adjustments. The service should not wait for the person to tell them what adjustments they require. This reminder should include information on how the Council expects decisions on reasonable adjustments to be communicated to the individual.

  • Durham County Council (21 012 182)

    Category: Education Date: 22-May-2022

    Summary

    Mrs B says the Council unreasonably refused her request for alternative transport for her daughter to get to school. The Council’s process for considering school transport appeals does not comply with Government guidance. A change to the Council’s school transport policy and arrangement for a further appeal for Mrs B is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council has reviewed its school transport policy, which now complies with Government guidance.

  • Durham County Council (21 010 361)

    Category: Planning Date: 19-Apr-2022

    Summary

    Mr B complains the Council failed to properly determine a neighbour’s planning application before granting permission. Further, he complains the Council has not properly considered revoking the planning permission due to the interference it will have with his property rights. We found the Council failed to properly determine the application. However, the power to revoke planning permission is discretionary and the evidence suggests the Council did properly consider this. Mr B has suffered an injustice by reason of the identified fault and so we have recommended a number of remedies.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide additional training and support to all officers with material involvement in the planning application’s determination. The training and support provided should focus on the areas of fault identified in the final decision statement.

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