Service improvements

Kent County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 24 cases with service improvements

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

  • Kent County Council (22 008 271)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 13-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mr C complains Council charges were consistently wrong. This caused Mr C time and trouble. It also increased his pre-existing anxiety. The Council failed to bill Mr C correctly and take action to correct its mistakes expediently. To remedy the complaint the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr C, pay him £200 and created a process for Mr C to follow to ensure bills are correct. It has also agreed to review how it responds to concerns, communicates with Mr C, and reminds the care agency about the importance of recording missed care calls.

    Service improvements

    The Council should, through contract monitoring, ensure the care agency involved is aware of the steps it needs to take when it cannot provide care.

  • Kent County Council (22 008 236)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to arrange a suitable school placement for her son and deliver the special educational provision as outlined in his Education, Health, and Care Plan. This caused a direct loss of provision and support for him, as well as distress and frustration for Mrs X. We found the Council to be at fault. We have made recommendations to remedy the personal injustice caused to Mrs X and her son. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice and to take action to prevent recurrence of fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will identify key learning points from this investigation to understand why full-time education or equivalent was not provided to the child and detail what action it will take to prevent future recurrence.The purpose of the review is to inform service improvements for the future.

  • Kent County Council (22 007 790)

    Category: Education Date: 02-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B complains the Council did not respond to her request for her child, Y, to attend a special educational needs (“SEN”) school. She says the Council did not provide her with an outcome to its review of the education health and care plan ("EHC plan”), so she could not appeal. We find the Council was at fault for not following statutory procedures in reviewing the EHC plan.

    Service improvements

    Provide updated training or guidance to relevant officers on the correct procedures and legal requirements for conducting annual reviews of Education Health and Care HC plansConsider any lessons that can be learned from this case and share the learning with relevant officers

  • Kent County Council (22 007 503)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Jan-2023

    Summary

    The Council failed to consider the totality of school placement and transport costs when an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan was amended to name a new school. It therefore failed to consider eligibility for school transport for a child with an EHC plan by applying the correct legal test (‘the Dudley test’). This casts doubt on the decision reached. The Council will reconsider the transport application in line with the Dudley test and provide a fresh written decision and right of appeal.

    Service improvements

    The Council will share learning about the application of the Dudley Test (a court judgement that set out how a council should consider whether it should pay for a parent's choice of school transport) in this case with relevant school transport officers and panel members to prevent a recurrence of the same error.

  • Kent County Council (22 007 365)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide suitable alternative education when her son, B, was too unwell to attend school. We find the Council was at fault for failing to provide B with alternative education. This caused distress to Mrs X and B has been out of education. To address the injustice caused by fault, the Council has agreed to apologise, make symbolic payments and remind staff of the relevant guidance.

    Service improvements

    Issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware of: The Council’s duties under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to provide provision or suitable education for children of compulsory age who cannot attend school because of exclusion, medical reasons or otherwise. The Department for Education statutory guidance which says where specific medical evidence, such as that provided by a medical consultant, is not quickly available, councils should consider liaising with other medical professionals, such as the child’s GP, and consider looking at other evidence to ensure minimal delay in arranging appropriate provision for the child

  • Kent County Council (22 006 592)

    Category: Education Date: 25-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B complains the Council did not properly consider her appeal against its decision on home to school transport assistance. She says her nearest school is not suitable and she cannot provide transport to her child, Y’s, current school due to work commitments. We find fault in the Council not giving Mrs B the opportunity to appeal to a tribunal and in how it considered the nearest suitable school.

    Service improvements

    Review its policy and procedures to decide whether it needs to make any changes to these, or provide any further written guidance to staff, to ensure staff are aware of the Dudley Test and consider all three stages when making decisions about school transport in cases of this nature

  • Kent County Council (22 006 334)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 06-Dec-2022

    Summary

    Mrs Y complained the Council failed to take appropriate action when she reported an increase in her aunt, Mrs X’s social care needs and said the Council failed to respond to her. We find fault by the Council. This caused significant stress to Mrs Y and Mrs X. We make several recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant staff of the Care and Support Statutory guidance which says plans can be reviewed in three ways: a planned review; an unplanned review (usually due to a change in circumstances); and a requested review (when the person or another party asks for a review).

  • Kent County Council (22 006 212)

    Category: Education Date: 21-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B and Mr C complained the Council failed to ensure their son received an education in line with Education, Health and Care Plan between May 2020 and July 2022. We upheld the complaint, finding their son missed out on a significant amount of education provision as a result. The Council has accepted our findings and at the end of this statement we set out the action it has agreed to take to remedy this injustice.

    Service improvements

    It is noted that as a result of previous investigations by this office, the Council has agreed to a series of procedural improvements in delivery of services to children with special educational needs over the past 18 months. This has included: reminding staff on the importance of effective communications duringthe Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process; introducing measuresto ensure the Council actions the outcome of annual review meetings promptlyand has systems in place to monitor this and to ensure it meets the statutorytimescales;reminding staff of the need to ensure the Council provides any educationprovision detailed within an EHCP; addressing withschools any instance where a school is unwilling or unable to make theprovision set out in a pupil’s EHCP; reminding staff on the importance of complying with Governmentguidance on its duties under Section 19 of the Education Act to provide alternative education for children not in school; reminding staff ofthe need to keep to timescales set out in its complaint procedure. Given that this investigation identified fault in these areas, the Council has agreed that it will consider what further steps it may need to take to embed these improvements in service and write to us with what further action it proposes to take.

  • Kent County Council (22 006 174)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Mar-2023

    Summary

    Miss Y complained about the way the Council dealt with Z’s special educational needs. She said it failed carry out annual reviews and a phase transfer review. It failed to provide a suitable placement for Z and appropriate support for his transfer to, and at the placement. We have found fault by the Council in failing to properly complete the phase transfer review and carry out annual reviews over a four-year period, causing injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this by apologising to Miss Y and Z, making payments to acknowledge their lost opportunity to have their views and concerns considered, and reflect the uncertainty, worry and upset caused. The Council has also agreed to report back to us about the outcome of the recent annual review meeting and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    Council has agreed to review its procedures for ensuring phase transfer reviews are completed within the required timescales and its SEN officers are aware of these timescales and their importance; andCouncil has agreed to review its procedures for ensuring reviews are completed within the required timescales and its SEN officers are aware of these timescales and their importance.

  • Kent County Council (22 005 875)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complains the Council has failed to complete its annual review process for her child, Y. Since complaining to the Ombudsman, the Council has since issued Y’s finalised EHCP. We have concluded our investigation having made a finding of fault by the Council. The Council did not adhere to the statutory timescales throughout the process, and this caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    Ensure relevant staff are appropriately trained with respect to the annual review process. The Council should ensure staff are aware of the statutory time scales and the correct processes when it decides to amend or maintain a EHCP.

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