Essex County Council (21 004 607)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 04-Apr-2022

Summary: Mr and Mrs F complain the Council has failed to provide suitable alternative education to their son (Child X) who could not attend his primary school due to his special educational needs. Further, they say the Council has not reviewed Child X’s Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) so that he could effectively transition to secondary school. We found the Council failed to provide alternative education for Child X while he was unable to attend primary school. The Council also failed to amend Child X’s EHCP in good time so that he could attend secondary school. The Council’s proposed transition arrangements for Child X were not appropriate for him and it has not provided suitable alternative education to him for this period also. These failings have caused Child X and both Mr and Mrs F serious loss, harm and distress. The Council has agreed to my recommendations to remedy this.

Essex County Council (21 017 649)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 06-Apr-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because we are satisfied with the actions the Council have taken and have proposed to take.

Essex County Council (21 010 309)

Statement Upheld Charging 19-Apr-2022

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to clearly communicate or respond properly to his queries about the payment arrangements for his late mother, Mrs Y’s care. The Council was at fault. There were errors in communication around Mrs Y’s finances, delays in responding to his complaint, and it failed to keep Mr X updated about Mrs Y’s care. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Mr X £200 to acknowledge the uncertainty and frustration this caused. It has agreed to review its procedures to prevent a recurrence of the faults.

Essex County Council (21 008 023)

Statement Upheld School transport 08-May-2022

Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to consider her application and appeal for home to school transport for her 16-year-old son properly. There was fault in the way the Council considered the matter as it did not look at whether in all the circumstances of the case it was necessary to offer help with transport. Nor did it explain how it measured distances. The Council has agreed to review the decision and its post-16 transport policy.

Essex County Council (21 012 257)

Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 19-May-2022

Summary: Mrs B complained about the action the Council when her mother Mrs C was discharged from hospital and needed care. We found the Council at fault for failing to communicate with the family when Mrs C went into hospital, for failing to give clear and complete information about who would pay for the care and for delaying in carrying out a reassessment. But we consider the Council’s actions in apologising and commissioning the care for 33 weeks is a reasonable way of putting matters right.

Essex County Council (21 013 721)

Statement Upheld Other 24-May-2022

Summary: Ms X complains the Council has not dealt with her mother’s death properly. The Council is at fault because it did not provide information, delayed sending the death certificate and did not respond to Ms X’s complaint clearly. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X, pay Ms X £175, provide information, provide guidance to staff and review its complaint responses.

Essex County Council (21 013 933)

Statement Upheld School transport 24-May-2022

Summary: Mr B complained that the Council delayed in arranging college transport for his son C and failed to inform him when the transport was cancelled on two occasions at short notice. We found the Council at fault and welcomed its offer to Mr B of £238 in mileage costs. The Council has agreed to pay an additional £250 to recognise the distress and time and trouble caused.

Essex County Council (21 005 643)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 25-May-2022

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her daughter, Y’s, Education Health and Care plan, and its failure to ensure Y received a suitable education. The Council was at fault for a significant delay in finalising Y’s plan, a delay in consulting the family’s preferred school, and a failure to check whether the education Y was receiving at home whilst a suitable school was identified was suitable. I have recommended it pay Mrs X £1,800 to remedy the costs of educating Y at home for a longer period due to the delays and to recognise the educational opportunities Y missed out on. It should make changes to its processes to prevent recurrence of the faults.

Essex County Council (21 013 609)

Statement Upheld Charging 26-May-2022

Summary: Mrs M complained to us about the way in which the Council has calculated the contribution her daughter has to make towards the cost of her care, and the way in which it has communicated about this. We found fault with regards to the actions of the Council, which the Council has agreed to remedy.

Essex County Council (21 011 373)

Statement Upheld Other 29-May-2022

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not dealt with his father’s death properly. The Council is at fault because it did not provide information, took too long to allocate a Coroner’s Officer and did not offer the opportunity to view the body. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, pay Mr X £100, provide information and provide guidance to staff.