Case Ref: 24 017 923 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• Review the Council’s processes regarding the provision of British Sign Language and deaf relay interpreters to service users, to ensure effective communication support is provided where necessary, and to ensure appropriate training is provided to relevant staff.

Case Ref: 24 015 348 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• Remind relevant staff of the importance of identifying and correctly routing statutory review requests, and of the need for accurate signposting to the correct Ombudsman service.
• Review whether any other recent correspondence challenging housing allocation decisions has been processed through the complaint procedure rather than the statutory review process, and take appropriate action to ensure any affected applicants are offered the correct route of redress. The Council should report its findings to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 24 007 597 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Remind relevant staff of the need to follow procedures when dealing with homelessness cases.

Case Ref: 24 004 827 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Transition from childrens services

• The Council has agreed senior officers will review the findings of the Ombudsman's investigation to identify wider points of learning and improvement. The Council will write to the Ombudsman with its conclusions and details of any actions it then proposes to take to improve its services.

Case Ref: 24 009 667 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to remind staff in its homelessness/housing review team to ensure that extensions to deadlines for review requests are agreed with the applicant and confirmed in writing.

Case Ref: 24 008 841 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will review its process for ending the prevention duty to ensure it always sends a decision with the advice on the right to ask for a review.

Case Ref: 24 000 718 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Remind officers in writing of the importance of discussing issues with interim accommodation with residents before a decision is made ending the interim duty.
• Remind officers in writing of the importance of noting the thinking behind decisions made.

Case Ref: 24 000 426 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• Provide a quarterly report to the relevant committee or cabinet member on the Council’s progress in reducing the delays in considering the main housing duty and brining its case completion times within the required timescales. This is to ensure the Council maintains progress and to ensure democratic oversight.
• Provide evidence of the Council’s new process to assess the suitability of interim and temporary accommodation.

Case Ref: 23 014 985 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• •by training or other means remind staff of the importance of record keeping and providing applicants who bid for properties with clear and updated information about the Council’s bidding and selection processes. This must also be done in a timely manner
• •remind relevant staff of the importance of adhering to the Council’s complaint policy timescales and to ensure the Council’s responses address applicants’ complaints.
• •produce a factsheet which explains the Council’s process from shortlist to property offer, this should also include viewings and timescales in which applicants must accept offers. The Council should then ensure it provides all shortlisted housing applicants with the factsheet which gives them a clear understanding of the process.

Case Ref: 22 015 527 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will review how long its homelessness service is taking to determine homelessness applications and decide whether any action is necessary to improve performance. It should also consider whether there needs to be checks in place to ensure there is not the drift in deciding applications that happened here.
• The Council will review the approach it takes when a homelessness applicant is facing eviction and the point at which it will offer accommodation.