Case Ref: 22 000 208 Category: Other Categories Sub Category: Other

• The Council should explain what it will do to improve its record keeping and internal sharing of information, in light of the inaccurate findings in its stage 2 review.
• The Council should amend its decision template letter to clearly give complainants their appeal rights, or to sign post directly to where the appeal rights can be found.

Case Ref: 21 013 025 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Noise

• The Council confirmed it reminded officers of the need to fully respond to queries raised in noise reports by members of the public.
• The Council confirmed it reviewed the initial warnings, and the first warning letters it sends out, so they now give examples of the person’s behaviour the Council is concerned about.
• The Council confirmed it accepts dealing with complaints was severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic but, work was done by the complainant's ward councillor and a service manager to resolve the complainant's concerns.
• The Council confirmed it introduced a new case management system for logging and processing complaints which has improved its complains handling from January 2022.

Case Ref: 21 009 953 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will remind relevant staff of the importance of providing applicants with clear information explaining how it has made decisions relating to awarding, or not awarding, housing points.

Case Ref: 21 008 097 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Fostering

• The Council wil issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware of the timescales under the statutory complaints procedure.The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware all relevant files must be sent to the Independent Officer and Independent Person when they are conducting a stage two investigation.

Case Ref: 21 003 748 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Remind staff and update any internal policy or procedure to reflect that a person does not need to complete a referral form to make a homeless application

Case Ref: 21 002 073 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council has agreed it will produce an action plan to identify ways of improving its review response times and ensuring it meets its published timeframes. This should include a timeframe for any action.

Case Ref: 20 013 506 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council agreed to remind relevant staff of the correct test to apply when considering whether it has a duty to offer interim accommodation in homelessness cases, and the importance of keeping a clear record of the reasons for its decision.

Case Ref: 20 008 324 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The council will carry out a training session for officers dealing with homeless applicants to cover the requirements under the legislation to: a)interview the person that has presented to the Council as homeless; b)carry out enquiries into that application; and c)consider the Council's duty to provide interim accommodation.
• The Council will send a reminder to complaints officers to ensure complainants are given more time to submit a request for stage two where access to their file is necessary before such a request can be made.

Case Ref: 20 003 896 Category: Housing Sub Category: Council house sales and leaseholders

• The Council agreed to remind officers of the need to consider alternative sources of evidence when faced with discrepancies in layout plans on Right to Buy sales.
• The Council agreed to remind officers of the need to keep accurate records of the condition of empty properties before re-letting as well as any internal structural changes done.

Case Ref: 20 000 114 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• Within four weeks of the final decision the Council should remind its officers of the importance of following up on referrals after they are made to ensure good practice. Review processes to ensure referrals can be tracked and monitored where necessary.