Case Ref: 23 016 427 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

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

Case Ref: 23 015 108 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 014 861 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 014 748 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 013 921 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 010 075 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 009 518 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 012 074 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 008 968 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 008 648 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• 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.