Service improvements

Leeds City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024

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 16 cases with service improvements

Export results (CSV)

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

  • Leeds City Council (23 012 516)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 26-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Mrs Y complained that services failed to provide funding for her father’s post-hospital care for long enough. We found that an Integrated Care Board funded the person’s care for an appropriate length of time. However, we found fault in the way the Council explained the process to the family. This caused avoidable stress, frustration and time and trouble for Mrs Y. In addition, we found fault in the way the Council responded to the family’s request for a meeting to discuss their complaint. We recommended that the Council apologises, makes a small financial payment to recognise the injustice and provides evidence of its learning from the complaint.

    Service improvements

    When planning a man's discharge from hospital to a care placement, the Council did not communicate effectively with the family about how long funding would be in place, and what would happen after the man left hospital. It accepted this during the complaints process and undertook to learn from the complaint and take steps to prevent recurrences. We asked the Council to provide evidence of the work it has done to improve its communication and to prevent similar failings in the future.

  • Leeds City Council (23 010 727)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Mrs F complained about delays by the Council in completing an assessment of her son G’s special educational needs, issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan, finding a suitable placement and ensuring he had a suitable education during the period of delay. We found fault with the actions of the Council. It has agreed to increase its payment to Mrs F and provide evidence of the steps it has taken to improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to explain what steps it has taken or is taking to ensure it complies with the statutory timescales in the EHC Plan process and its section 19 duty to provide alternative education.

  • Leeds City Council (23 009 924)

    Category: Education Date: 21-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the Council’s poor communication. She said the Council has failed to issue her son’s education, health and care plan within the statutory timescale. She also said the Council has failed to make alternative provision while her son was unable to attend school. We find the Council was at fault. This caused significant stress to Miss X and her son was out of education. To address this injustice caused by fault, the Council has agreed to several recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware of the Council's section 19 duty

  • Leeds City Council (23 005 638)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 02-Feb-2024

    Summary

    X complained the Council failed to ensure its contractor complied with planning conditions that were meant to ensure wildlife was not disturbed when work was carried out on a hedgerow. We found no fault in a failure by the Council to enforce planning conditions, but we did find fault in the planning condition discharge process. This was because there was no evidence that comments from the Council’s Nature Team were considered before the planning authority discharged a planning condition. This did not cause X a significant personal injustice, but the Council will consider making service improvements to prevent injustice from similar fault happening in the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council failed to show comments from its nature team were considered before a planning decision was made. The Council agreed to:review its practices, policies and procedures to ensure comments from consultees are properly considered and records kept before condition discharge decisions are made; andensure planning officers are aware of working practices, policies and procedures, including any that result from the review.

  • Leeds City Council (23 005 153)

    Category: Education Date: 19-Dec-2023

    Summary

    The Council’s delay considering Mrs X’s request for an Education Health and Care needs assessment for her child was fault. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mrs X and act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to update the Ombudsman on its progress against its plan to address its backlog of requests for Education Health and Care needs assessments.The Council has agreed to ensure the Council keeps people awaiting EHC decisions updated about the status of their case.

  • Leeds City Council (23 004 572)

    Category: Planning Date: 25-Jan-2024

    Summary

    We found no fault on Miss T’s complaint of the Council failing to properly investigate and decide whether her report of a breach of planning consent needed formal enforcement action. It failed to make reasonable adjustments when alerted to her visual impairment. The agreed action remedies the injustice this fault caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review its planning systems to ensure they can record information about a member of the public’s disabilities and reasonable adjustments needed who reports a breach of planning consent or is entitled to receive notification of a planning application.The Council agreed to review the training of officers in the planning team to ensure they are alert to the need to clarify, explore, and record disabilities and reasonable adjustments when dealing with someone reporting a breach of consent or wanting to make representations.The Council agreed to remind officers of the need to send information promptly when requested because of a reasonable adjustment need.

  • Leeds City Council (23 003 818)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to secure the provision set out in her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. She says this has caused his education and welfare to suffer and caused him distress. The Council is at fault for delay in reviewing and amending the EHC plan.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to consider how it monitors annual reviews which it delegates to schools so it can identify potential failings at the earliest opportunity.

  • Leeds City Council (23 002 078)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council took too long to issue her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan and that communication from the Council was poor. We found fault because there was a significant delay issuing the plan which affected the education on offer to her son. Ms X suffered avoidable frustration and distress in getting the issues resolved and her son missed out on the education he should have received. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Ms X, issue reminders to relevant staff and consider reviewing some of its procedures.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of its statutory duties under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996. This will help to ensure it understands its duties to provide alternative education provision to those eligible.The Council will consider reviewing its policies and procedures to ensure it retains oversight and control for its Section 19 duties under the Education Act 1996. This will help to ensure the Council itself has full and proper awareness of what education is being delivered to those who should be receiving alternative education provision.

  • Leeds City Council (22 018 184)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 24-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained a care provider acting on behalf of the Council failed to appropriately support his mother, Mrs Y. The Council was at fault for the care provider’s failure to give Mrs Y a full course of medication and failure to properly record the care it gave her. The Council was also at fault in how it considered two safeguarding referrals it received about Mrs Y’s care. The fault meant Mrs Y was put at risk of harm and caused Mr X distress, uncertainty and frustration. To remedy that injustice, the Council should apologise, pay Mr X £700 and work with the care provider to review how it records the care it provides.

    Service improvements

    The Council will work with the care provider, Airedale No 1 Ltd, to review the preceding three month's management monitoring forms and produce an action plan to improve how it records the care it provides to care home residents, including administration of medicine and offers of food and drink.

  • Leeds City Council (22 016 275)

    Category: Education Date: 19-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the delays in the statutory Education, Health and Care plan assessment and an assessment by Occupational Therapist. She also complained about the Council’s poor communication with her about the assessments. Mrs X said the Council’s actions caused her and her son avoidable distress and uncertainty. The Council was at fault for the delays. It agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused to Mrs X and Y.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind its SEND officers the importance of keeping the parents updated of the EHC plan assessment process.

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings