Service improvements

London Borough of Bromley

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024

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 17 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 (23 012 074)

    Category: Education Date: 01-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Miss Y complains about the Council’s decision to refuse to provide transport assistance for her daughter, D, to attend the school named in her EHC Plan. There is fault because the Council based its decision on factors which were not relevant. This is because it said there are closer schools which D could attend, however those schools are not named in her EHC Plan. The Council will complete the agreed actions to remedy the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will arrange staff training for officers who make decisions about SEND transport eligibility and those who sit on transport appeal panels. The training should focus on how officers determine which school is deemed the nearest suitable for young people with EHC Plans. The training should be based on the statutory guidance.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 008 968)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Mar-2024

    Summary

    There was fault the Council delayed issuing a final Education, Health, and Care Plan for Miss X’s daughter in 2022 and 2023. This fault caused Miss X an injustice because of avoidable uncertainty and a delayed right to appeal the Council’s final decision. There was also fault in how the Council evidenced its consideration of Miss X’s request for Elective Home Education and then a request for support while home schooling. The Council have agreed to remedy Miss X’s injustice in line with my recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault in the way it dealt with a request for a review of an Education, Health, and Care Plan. It was also at fault in how it considered a request for elective home education of a child. It has agreed it will share our decision statement with its caseworkers to improve their awareness of the Council's policy.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 008 648)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 04-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council did not provide the therapeutic support for her and her son, Y in line with a court ordered care plan. Miss X said some of the therapy was stopped and started and the Council did not provide the therapy for Y. The Council was at fault, it did not review the care plan properly and delayed in starting the therapy for Y. It agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her a symbolic amount of £500 to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused to her and to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind social care staff members to review care plans issued with a supervision order, in line with the arrangements specified in the care plan.The Council will remind social care staff of the importance of keeping clear, accurate and contemporaneous records of its decision making.The Council will remind officers responding to complaints of the importance of apologising where it identifies fault in its actions, and identifying any injustice caused to the complainant and any appropriate remedies. The Council will share our Guidance on Effective Complaint Handling with relevant staff members.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 007 234)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to review her daughter’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) and it failed to provide Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) she was entitled to. We found the Council had not carried out the EHC Plan reviews that it was required to, it had issued an EHC Plan in 2021 without consultation and it delayed issuing the 2023 EHC Plan. The Council also failed to provide Y’s SALT. We recommended and apology and payment to the complaint to recognise the impact.

    Service improvements

    The Council should write and distribute a briefing note for all staff dealing with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHC Plans) to remind them of the Councils obligations to carry out Annual Reviews of plans and the correct process to follow to consult families and relevant professionals before issuing EHC Plans.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 005 344)

    Category: Education Date: 29-Nov-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed assessing and issuing her daughter, Y’s, Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Mrs X also complained the Council did not use her private Educational Psychologists report she paid for. She complained about poor communication from the Council. Mrs X said this has affected her mental health and Y’s health. There was fault in the way the Council delayed issuing Y’s EHCP, delayed dealing with Mrs X’s complaint and communication with the Council was poor. Mrs X suffered distress, frustration and the Council delayed her appeal rights to the Tribunal. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and provide guidance to its staff.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint handling.Remind relevant staff of the importance of accurately recording information.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 001 581)

    Category: Housing Date: 31-Aug-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained her temporary accommodation, provided by the Council is unsuitable due to her needs, its size and its disrepair. Miss X also complained about her allocation banding and she feels it should be higher. She says this has impacted her health and the health of her family. There was fault in the way the Council did not ensure issues in the temporary accommodation were fixed in a timely manner. Miss X was frustrated by the delay. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a financial payment.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant staff of the importance of providing accurate information when writing to people.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 000 691)

    Category: Benefits and tax Date: 14-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained about how the Council considered his application for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP). The Council failed to consider Mr X’s supporting evidence and failed to provide appropriate and consistent explanations to support its decision not to award Mr X with a DHP. The Council agreed to re-consider Mr X’s application and remind staff to fully explain decisions to applicants where it decides not to award a DHP.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff who consider Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) applications and reviews to provide appropriate and consistent explanations to support decisions to refuse DHP applications. It should also remind staff to consider using discretion at each stage of the application process.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 000 664)

    Category: Education Date: 14-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council did not assess her child D’s Education, Health, and Care needs properly, within statutory timescales. She also said it failed to provide D with suitable alternative education while they were out of school for over a year. There was fault by the Council which caused D to miss education, and caused avoidable distress to D and Mrs X. The Council agreed to apologise, ensure suitable education is in place for D without delay, and pay a financial remedy. It will also review relevant policies, and share a copy of our decision and issue reminders to relevant staff.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review and amend its policy for children out of school with medical or health needs. It will ensure that:as part of the review, it completes an Equalities Impact Assessment for the policy, and gives due regard to reflecting equality considerations in the design of its policies and processes for accessing alternative education when out of school;the amended policy allows it to consider discretion about medical evidence requirements on a case-by-case basis; andthe amended policy makes clear that where a child is not approved for support from the Council’s Home and Hospital Tuition Service, and remains out of school, the Council must arrange other suitable alternative education, in line with its duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.The Council agreed to share a copy of our final decision with all staff across its teams that deal with children with special educational needs, or children out of school/ with attendance issues. It will draw its staff's attention to the:Council’s duties to provide suitable alternative education for a child out of school for any reason under section 19 of the Education Act 1996;Council’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty;Council’s duties under the Human Rights Act 1998 to give due regard to respecting and protecting an individual’s rights;requirement to comply with statutory timescales for carrying out Education, Health, and Care needs assessments;importance of responding to queries in good time and keeping families updated; and complaint handling timescales set out in the Council’s complaints procedure.

  • London Borough of Bromley (23 000 369)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 19-Oct-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complained about how the Council dealt with the care and support needs assessment for his mother, Mrs Y. He also complained about how the Council dealt with the individual carer assessments for two family carers, Carers 1 and 2. There was fault by the Council with how it assessed Mrs Y’s care and support needs. It was at fault with how it dealt with the carers assessments for Carers 1 and 2. The Council was also at fault with its complaints handling process. This caused injustice to Mrs Y and her family. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    By training or other means remind staff of the importance of completing care and support assessments and carers assessments in a timely manner, using the appropriate assessment method(s) and in line with the Care Act. This is to ensure care and support needs are identified and met.Remind front-line staff about the importance of keeping service users’ cases moving and dealing with the cases in a timely manner.Remind relevant staff of the need to provide responses to complaints within the appropriate timescales in line with the Council’s complaint handling procedure.

  • London Borough of Bromley (22 016 360)

    Category: Education Date: 17-May-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council has not dealt properly with her daughter’s education. The Council took too long to produce an EHCP and did not consider whether alternative education should be provided. Mrs X’s right of appeal was delayed and her daughter Y missed education. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay Mrs X £3,000 for Y’s loss of education and provide training and guidance to staff.

    Service improvements

    Provide training to all staff regarding the Council’s responsibilities relating to section 19 alternative education provision;Provide guidance to staff relating to the EHCP process and their responsibilities to adhere to timescales set out in SENCOP.

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