Service improvements

London Borough of Bromley

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2027

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 21 - 30 of 40 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 (23 016 427)

    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 (23 014 861)

    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 (23 010 075)

    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.

  • 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 (23 007 234)

    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 (23 000 664)

    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.

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