Service improvements

Leeds City Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 10 cases with service improvements

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

  • Leeds City Council (25 002 364)

    Category: Housing Date: 16-Feb-2026

    Summary

    The Council failed to consider providing Miss X with emergency severe weather accommodation during freezing temperatures because it misunderstood its protocol. This caused Miss X distress and may have put her at risk of harm. The Council will apologise, make a payment, and improve its service. There is no fault with the way the Council handled Miss X’s homeless application.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind all housing staff (including managers and the head of service) that its severe weather emergency protocol is available to anyone, regardless of legal duty or recourse to public funds.

  • Leeds City Council (24 022 279)

    Category: Education Date: 29-Oct-2025

    Summary

    We found fault by the Council on Mrs Y’s complaint that it failed to follow statutory timescales following a request for it to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her son. It also failed to provide her son with appropriate education when he was on a reduced timetable or had been suspended. The Council agreed to send a written apology for the failings, pay £1,400 for the injustice caused by not completing the assessment within statutory timescales, pay £7,200 for lost alternative provision, remind officers of the need to consider its duties for children not attending school, and ensure it has processes in place to monitor and review the progress of these children, especially where it decides to do an assessment.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to consider whether the section 19 duty is triggered for children who are not attending school full time and are struggling with attendance.The Council agreed to ensure it has processes in place to monitor and review the progress of children who are not attending school, or are on part-time timetables, especially where it decides to proceed with an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

  • Leeds City Council (24 017 715)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained that her child, Y, did not receive the provision in Section F of their Education, Health and Care Plan. There was fault by the Council. Y did not receive all the provision for over 3 terms and the Council did not respond to Miss X’s concerns about this. There was also delay in carrying out an annual review and a failure to issue a final Education, Health and Care Plan after a previous annual review. An apology, symbolic payment and service improvement remedies the injustice from the loss of education.

    Service improvements

    Review its procedures to ensure that annual reviews of current EHC Plans are carried out within the timescales set out in the law.

  • Leeds City Council (24 017 661)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 28-Oct-2025

    Summary

    Miss D complained on behalf of her sister who lives in supported living accommodation arranged by the Council. We upheld her complaint, finding the Council failed to take sufficient action to safeguard Miss D’s sister after she experienced aggressive behaviour from another resident. We considered its inattention caused unnecessary distress to both Miss D and her sister. The Council has accepted these findings and at the end of this statement, we set out action it has agreed to take to remedy their injustice and try to prevent a repeat.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed that it would review how it can strengthen its response where one of its users of care services experiences distress as a result of the actions of another. It agreed that review would consider making recommendations for improving its policy, procedures or the awareness of relevant employees. The review would cover:a) considering if the Council used its powers to safeguard adults from abuse sufficiently in such cases; b) whether it sufficiently considered such cases through the perspective of the victim of any disruptive or aggressive behaviour; c) whether it could do more to encourage social workers to draw up action plans to tackle problem behaviour and monitor their effectiveness;d) considering, where applicable, if it should use its power to end licence agreements in cases where a user of services in supported living accommodation it provides breaches a ‘good behaviour’ clause in its licence.

  • Leeds City Council (24 015 606)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 13-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mr B complained that the Councils said he was not eligible for a supported housing development. We have found fault in the way the Council assessed Mr B’s needs, the failure to properly record the eligibility criteria for the housing development and the Council’s communications about the criteria. The Council has already provided a financial remedy for the distress caused to Mr B by the fault and has amended the eligibility criteria. The Council has also agreed to apologise to Mr B and to carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    •Remind the relevant officers that any policies, guidance or eligibility criteria the Council applies, should be in writing and not verbal only.

  • Leeds City Council (24 014 118)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 29-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his application for a blue badge. He said it caused delays and failed to properly consider his non-visible disabilities in the process. We found the Council at fault for causing significant delays in the assessment process and for some unclear communication. It was not at fault for how it reached its view on Mr X’s eligibility at the time. The Council should apologise and make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the injustice its delay and unclear communication caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant staff to ensure clear and consistent communication is provided to blue badge applicants regarding delays, when appeal rights can be exercised, and next steps in the assessment process.

  • Leeds City Council (24 013 895)

    Category: Housing Date: 20-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Miss Y complained about the way the Council dealt with her housing register and homelessness applications. We have found fault, causing injustice by the Council, in its: delay and failures assessing Miss Y’s homelessness application and its homelessness duties; failure to provide her with suitable interim accommodation; and failure to provide clear information about its procedure for direct let offers. We have also found fault by the Council in failing to keep proper records of a prevention duty decision, which did not cause injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice by: apologising to Miss Y, making a payment to reflect the upset and worry caused; and making a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind officers the duty to provide interim accommodation arises as soon as it has reason to believe an applicant may be eligible for assistance, homeless and in priority need;The Council has agreed to ensure officers always carry out a suitability assessment to identify the applicant and their household’s needs before making a placement in interim or temporary accommodationThe Council has agreed to remind officers of the need to make and retain records of contact with applicants about offers of interim accommodation and their responseThe Council has agreed to review its policy and/or training to officers about its duty to securesuitable interim accommodation in accordance with Chapters 15, 16 and 17 of theHomelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities.

  • Leeds City Council (24 012 017)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the Council’s conduct during her appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) about her child D’s Education, Health, and Care Plan. She also said the Council failed to ensure D received the Education, Health, and Care Plan provision while her appeal was ongoing. We cannot investigate how the Council conducted itself during the Tribunal appeal process. However, the Council failed to ensure D received special educational needs provision while the appeal was ongoing. This fault caused D to miss provision, and distress to D and Miss X. The Council agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy, and review its processes for checking Education, Health, and Care Plan provision is in place.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to decide what changes are needed to its Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan processes, or staff training, to ensure it has systems in place to:check special educational needs provision is in place when it issues a new or substantially different EHC Plan, or there is a change in educational setting; andproperly investigate complaints or concerns that provision is not in place at any time.

  • Leeds City Council (24 006 945)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council failed to deliver educational provision to Child Y and delayed issuing their Education, health and Care Plan. Mr X says this meant they missed suitable education and support. We find fault with the Council for delaying arranging alternative provision and for delaying issuing Child Y’s EHCP. The Council has agreed to make financial payments in recognition of the missed provision and injustice to Child Y and Mr X.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to send written reminders to relevant staff of the Council’s responsibilities under Section 19 of the Education Act. With these reminders, it should share a copy of our “Out of school, out of sight? focus report, highlighting key points to ensure officers are aware of the factors they should consider when aware a child is not accessing full time education.

  • Leeds City Council (24 000 225)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 31-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council failed to provide appropriate education to her two adopted children. The Council has already investigated the complaints and upheld them. We endorse the Council’s findings of fault which has caused avoidable distress and a loss of education for the children. The Council has accepted our recommendation for an improved personal remedy for the loss of education and avoidable distress. The Council has also agreed to review its alternative education policy. We are therefore closing the complaints.

    Service improvements

    the Council will consider introducing an alternative education policy to help officers make decisions about when alternative education should be provided;ensure its special educational needs officers are aware that it has the power, in certain circumstances, to direct certain schools to admit a pupil with an Education, Health and Care plan;ensure it meets the special educational needs of pupils with an Education, Health and Care plan, who are out of school, and monitors their progress;ensure its officers check the suitability of the education for electively educated pupils;ensure adoptive parents or carers who take on the responsibility of previously looked after children are aware of the Virtual School Head, and how they can contact for advice and information on school matters.

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