Case Ref: 24 020 888 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council agreed to remind the relevant officers to ensure an estimated personal budget is shared with the person at the start of the care and support planning process.
• The Council agreed to review how it ensures care visits are charged in line with what is recorded within the support plan

Case Ref: 24 019 703 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Council tax

• Review and, where necessary, update its guidance and procedures to ensure recovery action is paused while discount/exemption applications are under consideration, that any court costs are reviewed promptly where later decisions extinguish or reduce liability, and that these steps are clearly communicated to taxpayers.

Case Ref: 24 019 317 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• By training or otherwise, remind relevant staff of the Council’s overarching responsibility of providing temporary accommodation to applicants under the main housing duty. This includes having oversight of the management of the properties where the Council secures the temporary accommodation through a registered provider / property letting agency.
• Ensure the Council issues formal offer letters including details of the right to seek suitability review of the accommodation, when the Council has to move an applicant from temporary accommodation to new temporary accommodation even in an emergency.
• Ensure the Council discharges its duty by completing suitability assessments before interim or temporary accommodation is offered to an applicant.
• •remind relevant staff that where the Council owes or has owed the main housing duty to an applicant, the Council has a duty to protect the applicant’s personal belongings if there is a risk it may be lost or damaged in situations.

Case Ref: 24 019 102 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review how it manages and oversees transfers in Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans for children and young people moving to its area to ensure it complies with Section 15 of the SEND regulations 2014, and how it communicates with young people and their parents or carers about important decisions within the EHC process and subsequent appeal rights. The Council will identify a timebound action plan to complete any improvements that are required to avoid the same faults occurring in the future.
• The Council will consider a decision we made which found fault in how it handled a young person's Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan over a period of two years at a relevant scrutiny committee and decide if there are any further actions the Council intends to take in relation to the identified faults.

Case Ref: 24 019 100 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will ensure all officers responding to complaints are aware of our Complaint Handling Code, with specific reference to section 5.4 which states: the person responding to a complaint should clarify with the complainant any parts of the complaint they are unclear about, and give the complainant a fair chance to set out their position.

Case Ref: 24 018 413 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Produce an action plan to demonstrate how the council will ensure that it is following the relevant legislation and guidance in relation to Electively Home Educated children and children with Education, Health and Care Plans. This action plan should provide details about how it will meet the following outcomes:a) Ensuring relevant staff are aware that a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan needs to be updated when they become Electively Home Educated and put in place a process to ensure this is completed. b) Ensuring relevant staff are aware that the Council has a duty to consider whether it is appropriate to continue to fund a child’s Education, Health and Care Plan provision when they become Electively Home Educated and put in place a process to ensure this is completed.c) Ensuring relevant staff are aware of the Council’s duty to either find a suitable school placement or provide education for a child when a parent confirms they no longer wish to Electively Home Educate their child. d) Show how it intends to address delays with Education, Health and Care Plan annual reviews and production of Education, Health and Care Plans within the statutory timescales.e) Ensuring relevantstaff are aware of the statutory requirement and timescales in issuingnotification letters following a child’s annual review meeting includingproviding information about a person’s right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

Case Ref: 24 015 200 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will send an email reminder to relevant staff reconfirming the Council's responsibility to secure SEN provision.

Case Ref: 24 014 728 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Remind staff either by training or written guidance that it must complete annual reviews within the statutory timescales.

Case Ref: 24 014 206 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind relevant staff to consider whether the Council owes a child or young person a section 19 alternative provision duty where it is aware the young person is not attending school, including where the Council is carrying out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for the young person.

Case Ref: 24 014 166 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to share our final decision with its SEND Panel Members and remind them that to prevent delay, they should ensure they have all the information they require before making their decisions.