Service improvements

London Borough of Bromley

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

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 11 - 20 of 20 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for London Borough of Bromley as a CSV file.

  • London Borough of Bromley (24 001 450)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complains the Council did not properly review her child D’s Education, Health, and Care Plan and ensure it was suitable for them. There was fault by the Council which caused avoidable distress to D and Miss X, and uncertainty about what special educational needs provision D may have missed. The Council agreed to apologise, agrees a dated action plan with Miss X of next steps for updates to D’s Education, Health, and Care Plan, and pay a financial remedy. It will also make an action plan of how it will avoid recurrence of the same faults and report this to its SEND Governance Board for monitoring.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review six cases from 2023 and 2024 where we found similar fault with Education, Health, and Care Plan timescales, and recommended reminders to its staff. It will:produce a dated action plan of how it will avoid recurrence of the same faults by making changes to practice and procedure or staff training; and report this review outcome and action plan to its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Governance Board so it can decide how progress against the plan should be monitored.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 020 783)

    Category: Housing Date: 29-Nov-2024

    Summary

    There was no fault when the Council provided accommodation for Ms X’s family outside of its area, nor when it failed to make a direct offer of housing. However, there was fault by the Council when it failed to ensure that mould in Ms X’s temporary accommodation was treated in good time. This meant that Ms X lived in a house in need of mould treatment for too long. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy this.

    Service improvements

    Share this decision with relevant staff and remind them that the Council remains responsible for repairs in temporary accommodation.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 018 894)

    Category: Housing Date: 06-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the way the Council dealt with her housing. The Council is at fault for failing to issue its response as a new formal suitability decision with review rights. This caused frustration, distress and uncertainty to Ms X. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Ms X to recognise the personal injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will circulate this decision to remind staff dealing with homelessness applications of the circumstances in which the main housing duty should apply and where review rights should be offered.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 016 427)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Jul-2024

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council. There was a delay in issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan of seven and a half months and the loss of education for a term. The Education, Health and Care Plan has now been issued, with an offer of a school place. A remedy payment remedies the injustice of loss of education, uncertainty and a delay in appeal rights to a tribunal.

    Service improvements

    The Council should review its guidance for staff and processes to ensure EHC Plan needs assessments are completed on time.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 015 108)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to take action to ensure officers send people copies of their care and support plans.The Council has agreed to take action to ensure its care and support plans meet the requirements of the Care & Support Statutory Guidance.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 014 861)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Jul-2024

    Summary

    The Council took too long to notify Mrs B that her son’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan would cease. It did not properly arrange his transition to adult social care in accordance with the law and guidance. The Council failed to maintain the EHC Plan while Mrs B’s appeal against the decision was outstanding. It took too long to assess his social care needs and to arrange care. The Council caused significant distress, uncertainty and frustration to Mrs B and her son. Mrs B’s son missed out on the educational provision set out in the EHC Plan. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice it caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff that: a) appeal rights will only arise when the Council sends a letter notifying the parent or young person that the EHC Plan will cease;b) staff should send notification within the legal time scales; andc) if the decision is appealed, the Council should maintain the Plan including the placement while the appeal is outstanding.The Council will also ensure a copy of our final decision is considered by the Children’s Policy Development & Scrutiny committee and Portfolio Holder and share a copy of our final decision with all relevant staff, to include dealing with ceasing EHC Plans and transition from EHC Plans to Adult Social Care.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 014 748)

    Category: Education Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    the Council will remind staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disability team to:1.respond to parents in a timely manner and ensure appropriate notes are available on its records to provide clear and sufficiently detailed responses. 2.ensure cases allocated to individual staff or the Council’s hub are progressed in line with the statutory timescales for the Education, Health, and Care Plan process.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 013 921)

    Category: Housing Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council should usually respond to letters andemails, even if only to explain why a detailed response cannot be provided.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 010 075)

    Category: Education Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review Ms F’s complaint against its existing processes and procedures to ensure delays or errors in completing the Education, Health, and Care plan process are identified and actioned swiftly, including when complaints are received. This is to ensure it provides parent or young people their right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal without unnecessary delay.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 009 518)

    Category: Education Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide relevant staff with a copy of this decision to raise awareness of the importance of meeting statutory deadlines and preparing for annual reviews.

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