Case Ref: 21 009 171 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to share our findings with its staff responsible for Education Health and Care plan reviews to highlight the importance of following legal timescales when assessing needs or reviewing Education Health and Care plans.
• The Council agreed to review its alternative education policies and procedures to ensure these properly reflect the Council's legal duties to children who stop being educated at home or need to be reintegrated into education.

Case Ref: 21 006 137 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• tell the Ombudsman what it is doing to increase the supply of specialist schools/providers to reduce delay in finding pupils appropriate placements.

Case Ref: 21 005 914 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has been making improvements to its SEN service and has agreed to previous service improvement recommendations made by the Ombudsman. The only service recommendation therefore made in respect of this complaint is that the Council provides us with details of how it will ensure that it correctly and promptly considers its section 19 duty where a school provides it with written information stating a child is unable to attend school as a result of medical needs and disability. The Council will provide us with this information within three months of the date of the final decision on this complaint.

Case Ref: 21 004 080 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will undertake a review of its system for managing staff caseloads during absences.
• The Council will share the learning from this decision with its special educational needs officers and remind them of the need to maintain effective communication with service users during the transfer review process.

Case Ref: 20 013 004 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Direct payments

• Provide guidance to staff to ensure care plans are reviewed at least annually
• Conduct an audit of all adult social care service users between 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021, to establish any further cases where care plans have not been reviewed annually and provide the outcomes to the Ombudsman

Case Ref: 21 006 256 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Within one month: remind staff of parents/carers right to appeal to the Tribunal if a reassessment is refused.
• Within two months, the Council will: consider whether to amend its procedures in light of the recent JR which determined that an amended final EHC Plan should be issued within 12 weeks of an annual review.

Case Ref: 21 004 837 Category: Education Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council will remind relevant school admission appeal officers of the importance of recording procedural decisions.

Case Ref: 21 004 706 Category: Education Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council will remind relevant school admission appeal officers of the importance of recording procedural decisions.
• The Council will issue guidance to panel members that stage two of the appeals procedure requires them to decide whether admitting any further children would prejudice the provision of efficient education or the efficient use of resources.

Case Ref: 21 004 269 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Within two months, the Council will; consider issuing a protocol with its partner agencies (health and social care) to ensure that professional advice is received within six weeks, as required.

Case Ref: 21 003 673 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Council will share the learning from this decision with its SEN officers and remind them of the need to allow sufficient time to complete the proper process for a phase transfer review within the statutory timescale
• provide us with evidence it has done this