Case Ref: 21 007 887 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Direct payments

• The Council has agreed to review its procedures to ensure it has an open and transparent process to consider whether there are exceptional circumstances to enable a direct payment to be used to pay a family member living in the same household to provide care and that it properly records these decisions.

Case Ref: 20 010 016 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will also review its procedures to ensure measures are in place to prevent similar delays in the EHCP process happening in future. The Council should provide the Ombudsman with a summary of the action it has taken.

Case Ref: 20 004 132 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Domiciliary care

• The Council will review its complaints handling with contractors.
• The Council will review its Direct Payment referral process.

Case Ref: 21 005 831 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• Through its contract monitoring processes ensures the Care Provider addresses the faults identified. That measures are in place to remind/train staff about:- the processes to follow when body maps are completed and when follow up forms are needed;
• documenting how care staff have made best interest decisions;
• adherence to care plans.

Case Ref: 21 001 744 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will send the Ombudsman an action plan detailing steps it will take to reduce its backlog of Education, Health and Care plan annual reviews.

Case Ref: 21 000 759 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• A senior officer of the Council will provide evidence it has undertaken a review of the complainant's case. The aim of the review will be to identify the cause of its failings in its customer service responsiveness, delays in the EHCP process and a failure to provide suitable education provision. The Council will identify service improvements in these areas to be implemented for the benefit of customers in the future.

Case Ref: 20 012 727 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Other

• It has also agreed to d) remind staff responsible for safeguarding referrals of the need to follow safeguarding procedure and record the reasons for its decisions.

Case Ref: 20 011 505 Category: Education Sub Category: Other

• The Council will work with the nursery to ensure the nursery’s charges are clear, transparent and itemised, and that it is clear to parents how they can access free nursery care without paying charges at the nursery.

Case Ref: 20 008 315 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to consider amending the ‘light-touch’ review form to ensure the risks identified by the care assessment are properly considered as part of any change to care and support.

Case Ref: 20 004 546 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will set up a process to ensure it can identify when schools have not provided the paperwork for annual reviews within the required timescale.
• The Council will carry out training for SEN caseworkers on the need to complete detailed handover notes and on how to manage annual review cases, taking into account the process set up as part of the previous remedy point.