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 24 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 (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 (24 007 784)

    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.

  • East Sussex County Council (23 015 102)

    Category: Education Date: 29-May-2024

    Summary

    We found fault on Mr B’s complaint about the appeal panel failing to properly consider his appeal against the decision to refuse his son a Year 4 place at his preferred school. We found fault in the decision making by the panel and with the clerk’s record keeping. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The clerk will remind the clerk about the need to make accurate and more detailed records of appeal hearings.The Council agreed to provide training to the panel about the consideration of evidence and reaching decisions on prejudice.The Council agreed to act to ensure on future appeals, the presenting officer has sufficient information to allow for detailed answering of questioning by panels.The Council agreed to act to ensure on future appeals, the Council as admission authority provides submission statements with fuller, relevant information.

  • East Sussex County Council (23 014 977)

    Category: Education Date: 11-Jul-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed putting in place alternative provision for her daughter, M after she stopped attending school in September 2023. The Council was at fault. It delayed putting alternative provision in place between September 2023 and February 2024. The Council agreed to make payments to Mrs X to acknowledge the impact this had on M’s education and for the distress and uncertainty caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to explain what action it intends to take around its commissioning arrangements for alternative provision tutors for children out of school. This is to prevent delays in securing alternative provision for children out of school going forward.

  • East Sussex County Council (23 013 708)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Oct-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council delayed providing an Education, Health and Care Plan for her daughter following an annual review. She says the Council’s actions meant her daughter was out of school and did not receive appropriate educational provision. Miss X says she was unable to work during this period. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to make some service improvements and provide an apology and a financial remedy to Miss X.

    Service improvements

    Remind staff to adhere to the statutory timeframes as part of the Education, Health and Care Plan review process.Remind staff of the importance of recognising parental requests for early reviews of Education, Health and Care Plans, and of the importance of acting on those requests in a timely manner.

  • East Sussex County Council (23 009 164)

    Category: Education Date: 18-Jul-2024

    Summary

    There was delay in putting alternative education in place when a child was unable to attend school due to anxiety and when the Council had ‘off-rolled’ the child from their school. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes for alternative provision to ensure they are in line with current statutory guidance in terms of timescale and the requirement for medical evidence.The Council will review its use of ‘off-rolling’ to ensure this is only used where the legal criteria is met.The Council will ensure that appropriate wording is used in EHC Plans to specify whether alternative provision is interim provision or whether it has decided a child’s needs cannot be met in any school and EOTAS is required.

  • East Sussex County Council (23 010 574)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed issuing her son, F’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan following annual reviews in 2022 and again in 2023 after the conclusion of her appeal to the SEND tribunal. The Council was at fault. It failed to issue an amended plan following an annual review in March 2022 and then delayed issuing a plan following a post-16 transition review. The Council agreed to make a payment to Mrs X to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused to her. It will also carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council failed to issue an amended Education, Health and Care Plan following an annual review in March 2022 and then delayed issuing a plan following a post-16 transition review. The Council has agreed to explain what action it has taken since 2022 to resolve the staffing issues in its Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) department which the Council stated caused the delays identified in this case. If staffing issues still exist, it should produce an action plan of how it intends to recruit and train staff to prevent future delays in statutory Education, Health and Care Plan processes.The Council should carry out training with its SEND staff and those staff who respond to complaints about the Education, Health and Care Plan process. The training should include the statutory timescales following annual reviews and reviews carried out prior to transitions.

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