Case Ref: 22 009 574 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind its officers to respond to complaints about delays in notifying parents or young people about its decisions, regardless of whether there are separate ongoing Education Health and Care Plan processes in place.
• The Council will remind relevant staff to ensure it adheres to the statutory Education Health and Care Plan process timescales and responds to communication from parents and young people without delay.

Case Ref: 22 004 710 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will send the Ombudsman an action plan setting out how it will adapt to the increased demand on its Special Educational Needs Service. This should take account of the recent caselaw on timescales for annual reviews.

Case Ref: 22 001 930 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review its processes for assessments and reassessments for an Education, Health and Care plan to ensure the range of advice to be sought is discussed with parents and there are mechanisms in place to obtain advice in a timely way. Also the Council will consider if a review or assessment is required when a professional or other body brings concerns about the child to the Council's attention.
• The Council will check its processes for providing s.19 education are in line with statutory guidance including that provision is full-time (where appropriate) and there is a written policy and named officer responsible for children with health needs

Case Ref: 21 018 905 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Disabled children

• The Council will provide details of the work undertaken to clarify the pathway for parents and carers to request a single assessment.

Case Ref: 21 018 698 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Disabled children

• The Council has agreed to review how it liaises with its commissioned services to promptly secure the provision specified in EHC Plans and produce an action plan setting out the steps it will take. As part of this review, the Council will consider how to adopt learning from complaints involving other bodies or agencies, where the issues raised might affect delivering an EHC Plan.

Case Ref: 21 013 026 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to review the transition process though which privately funded care home residents become Council funded, to ensure financial assessments start in a timely manner and decisions around care fee contributions are made in a timely manner.
• The Council will review the process through which it generates and issues invoices to clients, to ensure clients receive these in a timely manner.
• The Council has agreed to review if any other of its clients have suffered a similar injustice, due to delays by the Council.

Case Ref: 21 005 507 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• Review its guidance on DRE and essential expenditure in light of the issues identified in this statement.

Case Ref: 21 003 170 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council will amend all formal reports and written records produced as part of the child protection process by: (a) attaching a copy of the Ombudsman’s final decision statement to each formal report and written document produced; (b) including (in the header of each document on each page) that the Ombudsman has found numerous failings in the preparation and submission of this document and/or report; (c) making clear reference (in the header of each document on each page) to the Ombudsman’s attached final decision statement and that this is to be read in conjunction with the document and/or report. The Council has expressed concern whether strict compliance with agreed action (c) is compatible with its case management system. In the first instance, the Council must attempt to seek compliance with agreed action (c).Where this is not possible, the Council will take equivalent action which demonstrates it has amended all formal reports and written records produced as part of the child protection process. Such amendments must make direct reference to failings in the preparation and submissions of documents and direct readers to this final decision statement. The Council must provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has satisfied this action.
• At a senior level, the Council will undertake a detailed review into the failings identified in this statement. This will focus on the failings in this case. The review will inform service improvements and policy changes, as well as specific feedback to the lead social worker involved in the case. The Council will also review its information sharing procedures to ensure all parties involved in the child protection process are given timely information to prepare and provide input at key milestones(particularly the ICPC and any subsequent reviews).
• Additional training will be provided to the Council’s lead social worker relating to each failing identified in this statement.

Case Ref: 21 000 535 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• To improve services for other children and young people, the Council has agreed to provide reminders/training to ensure that staff understand the Council’s duty: • to comply with the timescales set out in the Code for carrying out reviews, issuing decisions after annual reviews, and amending plans; and • where it proposes to amend a plan, to send the parent or young person a copy of the existing plan and a notice providing details of the proposed changes, with copies of any evidence to support the proposed changes.

Case Ref: 20 010 517 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council will remind the relevant staff of the importance of following its safeguarding adults policy when communicating decisions to people who have reported safeguarding concerns.