Service improvements

Essex County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 15 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Essex County Council as a CSV file.

  • Essex County Council (25 007 120)

    Category: Education Date: 18-Mar-2026

    Summary

    The Council failed to put in place education and special educational needs provision for Mrs X’s son when tuition broke down, failed to issue a final education, health and care plan following a review and failed to identify a suitable post 16 placement. That meant Mrs X’s son missed out on provision and Mrs X had her right of appeal denied and suffered distress. An apology, payment to Mrs X and a process to manage children out of education is a satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will put in place a procedure for identifying and tracking the children not receiving education to ensure there are no lengthy delays putting in place provision.

  • Essex County Council (25 006 242)

    Category: Education Date: 13-Mar-2026

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council. There was significant delay sending a final Education, Health and Care Plan after an annual review. A child, Y, received no educational provision after she was removed from the school roll. An apology, symbolic payment and review of procedures remedies the injustice to the family.

    Service improvements

    Produce an action plan to demonstrate how the council will meet statutory timescales for annual reviews. (Or show that this is already in place.)Review its procedures to ensure that there is a process to ensure children with an Education Health and Care Plan who are taken off a school roll are monitored regularly to ensure that alternative provision is provided within legal timescales.

  • Essex County Council (25 005 480)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Mar-2026

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to deliver Occupational Therapy included in her son’s (Y) Education Health and Care Plan. She also said the Council had failed to arrange extra education for Y when he was on a part-time timetable and had failed to reassess Y’s needs. We found fault with the Council for not securing delivery of Occupational Therapy for Y and for the delay when reassessing Y’s needs. The lack of Occupational Therapy caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council has agreed to apologise, arrange therapy provision for Y and make a payment to recognise Y’s loss of provision. The Council has also agreed to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send us details of the process it follows to ensure children who have Occupational Therapy provision specified in Section F of their Education, Health and Care Plan receive it, even when the Council’s main commissioned therapy provider does not have availability to deliver the services required.

  • Essex County Council (25 005 252)

    Category: Education Date: 31-Mar-2026

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the way the Council carried out the Education Health and Care Plan process for her daughter (Y). She also complained about the Council’s delays in arranging education and special educational provision for Y and the Council’s actions in response to her Personal budget request. We found fault with the Council for the delay in arranging special educational provision for Y, as well as for the delays and failings with the Annual Review and the Personal budget process. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council has agreed to apologise and make payments to Mrs X to recognise her and Y’s injustice. The Council has also agreed to review its record keeping.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the way it keeps records for children with Educational, Health and Care Plans. The Council should ensure that all key correspondence is properly filed and available.

  • Essex County Council (25 003 128)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council delayed finalising her daughter’s Education, Health and Care plan and failed to ensure suitable education was provided during this period. We have found the Council was at fault. It caused a delay of nine months and continues to cause delay. This likely meant Miss X’s daughter missed out on the education and support she needed. Miss X herself also likely experienced inconvenience and distress. The Council has agreed to take action to address their injustice.

    Service improvements

    The Council will write to this office, setting out how it will ensure in future that, when a parent or school notifies the Council of a pupil’s non-attendance, the relevant department is informed and can coordinate follow-up action to ensure children missing from education are identified and their needs are met.The Council will consider a formal communication process between its SEND and education welfare teams.The Council will review its policies and procedures to ensure it retains sufficient oversight of children missing from education.

  • Essex County Council (24 021 733)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X says the Council failed to complete the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment requested for her daughter, Y, within the statutory timescales. Mrs X also says the Council has failed to provide education for Y since December 2024. Mrs X says this has caused her and her family distress. We have found fault in the Councils actions for delay in completing the Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for Y and for failing to provide education. The Council has agreed to write to Mrs X to apologise, pay her a symbolic payment and complete service improvements.

    Service improvements

    In writing, remind staff of the importance of keeping Section 19 decisions under review where further information is required.

  • Essex County Council (24 021 378)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her child, Y with provision as outlined in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She also complained about annual review delays. The Council failed to ensure Y received Speech and Language Therapy provision from September 2023 to June 2025 and has not issued an amended Plan following an annual review in 2023. As a result, Y has lost out on Speech and Language Therapy for over one and a half years. The Council agreed to make payments to acknowledge the impact on Y’s education and the distress and uncertainty caused to Mrs X. It also agreed to issue Y’s amended EHC Plan without further delay and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its commissioning arrangements for Speech and Language Therapists to ensure it has sufficient therapists to deliver Speech and Language therapy provision outlined in Education Health and Care Plans. If this is already part of the Council’s Special Education Needs and Disability improvement plan it should provide us with an update on its progress.

  • Essex County Council (24 020 580)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s failure to deliver therapies included in her daughter’s (Y) Education Health and Care Plan, to agree a Personal budget for Y and to review Y’s plan. Mrs X also complained about the way the Council carried out Y’s Education Health and Care needs assessment. We found fault with the Council. This fault caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council has offered a suitable financial remedy. The Council has also agreed to ensure Y receives therapies in the new school year and improve its Personal budget process.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its Personal budget process to make it compliant with its policy.The Council will ensure that when refusing a Personal budget request for a child with an EHC Plan it sends its response in writing giving the reasons and advising of the right to ask for a review.The Council will remind all the SEND front-line staff of the Council’s duties in relation to Personal budgets for children with EHC Plan. For this purpose the Council might use our Focus report “Parent Power: personal budgets in EHC plans”.

  • Essex County Council (24 019 303)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council has not dealt properly with school transport for her son, causing distress and financial loss. The Council is at fault because it did not initially respond to Mrs X’s complaints and did not properly consider whether transport for Y was suitable. Mrs X suffered distress and financial loss. The Council should apologise, pay Mrs X £150 for time and trouble, backdate Y’s travel allowance, pay Mrs X £250 for avoidable distress, review Y’s transport provision and review its policy.

    Service improvements

    Review its home to school transport policy to ensure it reflects the statutory guidance in relation to sufficiency of travel allowances.

  • Essex County Council (24 018 461)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child, Y, within the statutory time limits. She said this caused Y to miss out on a suitable education. We found the Council at fault for not completing the assessment within the statutory timescales and for not providing a suitable education for Y. This fault caused injustice to Mrs X and Y. The Council has agreed to make a payment to recognise Y’s loss of education and the distress to them and Mrs X. The Council has also agreed to make changes to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue a staff briefing to all front line staff who may come into contact with schools or parents to make them aware of the Council’s Section 19 responsibilities and understand they must make the relevant Council teams aware if a child of compulsory school age is not attending school full-time.The Council will review templates used by its SEND information, advice and support services to ensure they are accurate and introduce a regular process of checking the accuracy of information provided by this service.

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