Service improvements

Essex County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022

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 - 4 of 4 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 (21 002 413)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Feb-2022

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s failure to promptly reinstate school transport for his disabled child and poor complaint handling. We have found the Council was at fault because it did not carry out a proper assessment of risk and did not respond to his complaint properly. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mr X to acknowledge the distress caused and review its practices.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant officers of the need to carry out a risk assessment in respect of travel arrangements that involve health and safety issues.

  • Essex County Council (21 002 061)

    Category: Education Date: 25-Feb-2022

    Summary

    Mrs A complains the Council has not provided the travel payments agreed to support her son to attend school. Mrs A complains the Council has not considered her son’s Special Educational Needs in its decision not to provide the agreed travel. This meant she had to pay out of pocket to bring her son to school when the Council should have partially funded travel. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for failing to apply a consistent approach to its discretionary travel policy for Child X. The Ombudsman recommends the Council reconsider Mrs A’s requests without fault and pay Mrs A a financial sum in recognition of the distress and uncertainty. It should also consider service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to consider how it records considerations of applications made for school transport in exceptional circumstances. The Council should consider whether it is appropriate to record its reasoning for selecting a transport choice.The Council has agreed to review how it communicates with those it grants discretionary travel to and consider a service improvement to make it clearer how the Council applies the discretionary travel criteria.

  • Essex County Council (21 001 120)

    Category: Education Date: 11-Nov-2021

    Summary

    Miss X complained the school transport the Council provided for her son is not suitable for his needs. Based on the information I have seen, there was fault in how the Council decided the transport provided for Y was suitable. It agreed to review its decision and give Miss X the opportunity to speak to the decision maker. It also agreed to review its practices for driver training.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review its practices for school transport driver training to ensure it complies with the statutory guidance.

  • Essex County Council (20 007 476)

    Category: Education Date: 27-Oct-2021

    Summary

    We found fault with the Council’s handling of Mrs X’s daughter’s home to school transport. The Council failed to ensure the taxi operator it commissioned was complying with guidance related to COVID-19. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X and her daughter and pay a mileage allowance for the days Mrs X drove her to school.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers parents have the right of appeal to challenge decisions about the transport arrangements offered to their child, including any decision not to offer a mileage allowance, and that parents must be informed about their appeal rights.The Council will remind transport operators about the importance of discussing any changes to transport arrangements with parents in advance.

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