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 - 3 of 3 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 (22 006 410)

    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 (22 002 850)

    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 (21 012 182)

    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.

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