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.

Case Ref: 21 016 612 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• This Council has agreed to remind its staff of the Council’s Section 19 duty to arrange suitable education at school or elsewhere for pupils who are out of school because of exclusion, illness or for other reasons, if they would not receive suitable education without such arrangements and whether or not they are on the roll of a school.
• The Council has agreed to remind its staff of the importance of removing children, if appropriate, from a school’s roll so it can refer them to temporary educational services.
• The Council has agreed to remind staff of the need for timely consultations with educational providers, particularly when the child is, or there is a risk of, the child being out of education.
• The Council has agreed to investigate the reasons why a final EHC Plan was issued more than 17 weeks late and produce an action plan to outline how it can prevent this kind of delay occurring in future.

Case Ref: 21 013 700 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Drainage

• The Council agreed to review why Highways failed to properly respond and take action on the complainant's reports.
• The Council agreed to remind officers of the need to make and retain contact and evidence of liaison with the water board on future cases