Case Ref: 24 023 110 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• 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.

Case Ref: 24 019 487 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• 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.

Case Ref: 24 016 011 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 24 015 399 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 24 014 172 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 24 011 027 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• 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; and
• it 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.

Case Ref: 24 008 593 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• 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.

Case Ref: 24 008 152 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 015 102 Category: Education Sub Category: School admissions

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 014 977 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• 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.