Service improvements

East Sussex County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2027

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 - 10 of 48 cases with service improvements

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

  • East Sussex County Council (25 010 118)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Apr-2026

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council left her without Personal Assistant support for around three months after her existing arrangements ended, failed to provide interim support while it reassessed her needs, and did not keep her properly informed. There is fault in the Council’s actions. This caused avoidable distress, uncertainty, loss of support, and reliance on informal care to meet her daily needs. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and service improvements to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    Review its procedures for responding when a person reports their care arrangements have ended, to ensure there is a clear requirement to consider and record whether interim or alternative provision is needed to meet eligible needs pending reassessment.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 023 110)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Oct-2025

    Summary

    The Council failed to properly assess Mr X’s care needs in 2024 leading to a wrongful reduction in his support package. Consequently, Mr X missed out on services to which he was entitled to receive. It also delayed in dealing with complaints about this.

    Service improvements

    The Council should, within three months of the final decision, consider any training needs of officers completing or overseeing needs assessments under the Care Act.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 019 487)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 19-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her care and support package. We found avoidable delay by the Council which caused Mrs X avoidable frustration. To put matters right, the Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X and partially waive her care costs.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review its procedures for transferring cases between its hospital discharge and neighbourhood support teams to ensure officers issue and complete all necessary paperwork and tell service users about the transfer.The Council agreed to write to relevant staff to remind them of the importance of timely responses to telephone messages, particularly when transferring cases between teams.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 016 011)

    Category: Education Date: 06-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council failed to secure the emotional support set out in her daughter Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. We have concluded our investigation with a finding of fault. The Council has accepted that emotional support provision specified in the EHC Plan was not delivered for a prolonged period. This caused avoidable distress to Y and placed additional burden on Mrs X. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will also review what happened in this case, including the decision-making and oversight processes that led to a prolonged failure to secure the provision in Y’s EHC Plan. In particular, it should identify what steps could have been taken earlier to clarify that provision was not in place, and to act on Mrs X’s concerns. The Council will write to the Ombudsman to confirm what changes or service improvements it proposes to make as a result of this review.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 015 399)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Miss Y complained the Council delayed in issuing her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan which meant that Miss Y paid school fees for five weeks longer than she otherwise would have. We find fault and injustice which the Council should remedy with a payment equivalent to the school fees paid by Miss Y between 5 September and 10 October 2024.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant staff of the importance of ensuring EHC plans are issued within the statutory timescales. The Council will provide evidence of this to the Ombudsman in the form of a staff briefing paper, notes of a team meeting or evidence of another form of staff circular, within one month of the final decision.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 014 172)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to take effective action when her son, Mr Y, was unable to access the placement named in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council is at fault for failing to take effective action in response to concerns about Mr Y’s placement because it should have done more to ensure the provision specified in his EHC Plan was secured. The lack of effective action caused uncertainty. The Council has agreed to make a payment to remedy the injustice caused and it has agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue a reminder to staff about:•its duty under Section 42 of the Children and Families Act to secure the provision outlined in a child or young person’s Education, Health and Care (EHC)Plan;•the importance of checking the special educational provision is in place when a new or amended EHC plan is issued or there is a change in placement; and•effectively investigating complaints or concerns that provision is not in place at any time.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 011 027)

    Category: Education Date: 21-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council delayed in providing alternative education to her daughter and that, when it was provided, it was unsuitable. We find that there was fault by the Council on the first complaint and a lost opportunity on the second but with limited injustice. The Council has agreed to make symbolic payments for the loss of education and opportunity. The Council has already amended its alternative education policy for pupils medically unfit to attend school and has agreed to consider further service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has amended its alternative education policy in the light of this complaint. But it will consider ensuring that relevant officers obtain information from the allocated school when deciding on whether it should provide alternative education; andit will consider sending a medical consent form to parents/carers when requests for alternative education are made or when the Council becomes aware that a pupil is out of school for medical reasons.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 008 593)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 05-May-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council and its care provider, Voyage 1 Limited, failed to ensure her daughter, Ms Y, received all the one-to-one (1:1) support she had been assessed as needing, resulting in her lacking support with social activities and leading to her becoming withdrawn. The Council accepts Ms Y did not receive all her 1:1 support and has offered to pay financial redress for two and a half years. But, Ms Y did not receive all her 1:1 support for three and a half years from March 2021. This left Ms Y without the support she needed with personal care and limited, if not removed, opportunities for social activities. The Council needs to extend its offer of financial redress to cover the period from March 2020.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to identify the action it needs to take to ensure: care providers receive copies of care and support plans; the Council is commissioning the support it has assessed people as needing; and officers accept requests to review people’s needs.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 008 152)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 28-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mrs B complained about the process leading to, and content of, a section 17 family assessment in respect of her son, C. We have found fault because the Council did not arrange a proper assessment visit with Mrs B or allow her the opportunity to comment on negative conclusions reached about her as part of the assessment. We welcome the Council’s offer to meet with Mrs B now and consider if any further changes to the assessment are possible. The Council has also agreed to apologise to Mrs B, pay her £300 and improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff of the need to arrange a formal visit with all parties when carrying out a section 17 family assessment to ensure all views are properly considered and all parties are given a chance to comment on concerns raised about them.

  • East Sussex County Council (24 007 784)

    Category: Education Date: 06-Jan-2026

    Summary

    The Council failed to secure a special school place as set out in a pupil’s child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council also failed to secure education and special educational provision between March and October 2024. The uncertainty whether these failures contributed to the pupil’s disengagement from education and inability to sit GCSE’s is an injustice. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure officers considering alternative provision are alert to duties under s.42 where the pupil has an EHC Plan as well as the Council’s s.19 duty andensure special educational provision is secured and keep records to show that provision has been checked.The Council will ensure consultations for post-16 transfers are made in good time so students can start their new courses on time.

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