London Borough of Bromley (23 009 518)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 04-Apr-2024

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s delay when reviewing his Education, Health and Care Plan. We found the Council to be at fault. It did not circulate information before the scheduled review meeting and took too long to tell Mr X his Plan would be amended. This caused Mr X avoidable distress and anxiety. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and take action to improve its timeliness.

London Borough of Bromley (23 009 159)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 08-Apr-2024

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to meet the statutory timescale when issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan and failed to provide her son with a suitable education for over a year causing distress. The Council accepts it did not issue the final plan within the statutory timescales. We have seen no evidence that it provided a suitable education that was available and accessible from January 2023 to September 2023. A suitable remedy is agreed.

London Borough of Bromley (23 015 108)

Statement Upheld Charging 14-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her father’s financial assessment. The Council accepts it did not deal with it properly and has apologised for the inconvenience it has caused. It has also reminded officers of the need to communicate with people effectively. The Council also needs to make symbolic payments to Ms X and her parents. It also needs to take further action to improve its working practices.

London Borough of Bromley (23 012 716)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 15-Apr-2024

Summary: Mrs X complains about how the Council handled her daughter, C’s, Education, Health and Care Plan assessment. She says it delayed the statutory process and took too long to consult schools to check if they could meet C’s needs. This meant that C was left with no educational and therapeutic provision for longer than necessary. Mrs X would like the Council to apologise for the delays and pay them for the distress its actions have caused. The Council was at fault for the delays in the assessment process. The Council agreed to our recommendations on how it should address the injustice its actions caused to Mrs X and C.

London Borough of Bromley (23 010 075)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 16-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms F complained about how the Council handled her son’s Education, Health, and Care plan process and her request for a change of school placement. The Council agreed it caused an 8-month delay in finalising his plan due to a human error and apologised to Ms F. This was fault. We found its apology was not enough to remedy the injustice this caused. The Council should make a symbolic payment to Ms F and review its process to ensure such unnecessary delays do not reoccur.

London Borough of Bromley (23 014 720)

Statement Upheld School transport 28-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complained on behalf of her child, Child Y, the Council wrongly refused to provide home-to-school transport to attend the only school named in Child Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council was at fault. The Council said there were closer schools which Child Y could attend but had not named these in Child Y’s EHC Plan. The Council will arrange a fresh appeal panel with different panel members to consider the proper tests set out in law and statutory guidance, and if successful pay Ms X’s transport costs.

London Borough of Bromley (23 017 012)

Statement Upheld Child protection 28-May-2024

Summary: Miss F complained that the Council failed to provide her family with children’s social care support and had refused to accept her complaint about this. We found fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate and respond to the complaint under the statutory children’s complaints process. The Council has now agreed to do so.

London Borough of Bromley (23 014 466)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 10-Jun-2024

Summary: Mrs F complained that the Council delayed issuing her son’s EHC plan, causing him to miss out on provision and causing her significant distress. We found fault. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to remedy the injustice.

London Borough of Bromley (23 014 748)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 11-Jun-2024

Summary: Ms H complained about the Council’s handling of the Education, Health, and Care plan process for her daughter (X). She said this caused her distress and a delay in X receiving the support she needed. We found the Council at fault for failing to adhere to the statutory timescales and it communicated with Ms H poorly as no caseworker was allocated. The Council will apologise and make payment to Ms H to acknowledge the injustice this caused her and X.

London Borough of Bromley (23 013 921)

Statement Upheld Homelessness 15-Jul-2024

Summary: The Council was not at fault for how it dealt with Ms X’s child Y in relation to both housing and children's social care. The Council was at fault for failing to respond to Ms X’s letters. The Council has agreed to apologise and act to improve its service.