Case Ref: 22 011 175 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council has agreed to issue guidance toall staff involved with deciding transport applications:to ensure that when a child hasan EHCP naming one school in Section I, the Council should treat it as thenearest suitable school for that child’s needs, without any furtherconsideration of the other options; andto ensure theyconsider all information provided about the child before reaching a view on themost appropriate transport and not be guided solely by the type of schoolplacement named on an EHCP.

Case Ref: 22 005 731 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Other

• Remind staff and if necessary, provide training about how to assess capacity where there is fluctuating capacity, in particular cases where there is substance misuse;
• Review policies and procedures so they address assessing and supporting people with fluctuating capacity;
• Remind staff about taking prompt action in response to safeguarding concerns and to follow action plans and include them as part of the care management process if they arise out of safeguarding;
• Remind staff and review procedures about the need for personalised housing plans and when individuals should receive them.

Case Ref: 22 004 441 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Explain what it will to do to ensure, where it commissions other organizations to make provision, sufficient processes are in place to reduce the risk of provision not being delivered.

Case Ref: 22 004 206 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• Remind relevant staff of the importance of keeping the adult who is the subject of a safeguarding enquiry at the centre of the enquiry

Case Ref: 22 002 273 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• Provide the Ombudsman with a short report setting out the service improvements that have now taken place as a result of the investigation report completed in February 2022. This should include action taken to increase the supply of supported living placements in the Council’s area.
• Reflect on the issues raised in this decision statement and identify any additional areas of service improvement. The Council should prepare a short report setting out what the Council intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. This should include action taken in respect of the concerns raised by the Agency about Home B. This report should be sent to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 22 004 427 Category: Other Categories Sub Category: Other

• Review the inquest recording system to ensure it is fit for purpose and that suitable storage and back up systems are in place.

Case Ref: 22 004 391 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will review its transport appeals process and correspondence, and the published information describing it, to ensure they clearly explain the process followed and the opportunities to comment before a decision is final.

Case Ref: 22 004 080 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• Council will provide the Ombudsman with details of how it will expedite complaint responses.

Case Ref: 22 000 730 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to provide a briefing for its staff who work in providing education for pupils with special educational needs to cover three matters. First, the triaging of cases where pupils move into the area from those parts of the United Kingdom outside England. Second, to set out our expectation that when Government guidance places a requirement on the Council to act (for example with use of words like must or shall) that it should be able to demonstrate it has done all that might be reasonably expected to fulfil that expectation. Third, to cover circumstances when it is appropriate to refer to its unreasonable customer behaviour policy, taking account of commentary in the decision statement on this point.
• The Council agreed to review its current policy to support pupils with special educational needs who are not enrolledin school through its Individual Pupil Support service. This was to address our concern the present arrangements wereunlikely to provide for a full-time education or equivalent for such pupils andso fall short of the legal requirement the Council has when providingalternative provision. In particular, the Council agreed to review how it canbe more flexible about reviewing an initial commitment to only offer three hours of one-to-one provision if a child engages with that. It should not have anypolicy that it only reviews that offer after six weeks.

Case Ref: 21 019 099 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to complete a review into its financial assessment processes and provide evidence of the implementation of the outcome of this review within its service to the Ombudsman.