Service improvements

London Borough of Hillingdon

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 - 9 of 9 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for London Borough of Hillingdon as a CSV file.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (23 006 468)

    Category: Education Date: 27-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Ms B says the Council failed to provide education to her son, failed to keep her up-to-date with what was happening, failed to update her son’s education, health and care plan and delayed responding to her complaint. The Council failed to put in place education for part of the period, did not always respond to Ms B’s queries, failed to meet with her as it agreed to do and delayed responding to her complaint. An apology, reminder to officers and payment to Ms B is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a reminder to officers about the Council’s section 19 responsibility to ensure a child receives education and the need to consider making a referral for a tutor at an early stage if a school cannot be identified.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (23 004 882)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained on behalf of a family member, Miss Y. Miss X said the Council failed to consider all the evidence available when it decided not to provide Miss Y with post-16 travel assistance. There was no fault in the way the Council decided not to award Miss Y travel assistance. There was fault in the Council’s record keeping. The Council should apologise to Miss X for the uncertainty caused by the fault and carry out a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council will write to staff involved in Special Educational Needs and Disability transport decisions and remind them of the importance of ensuring decision letters and meeting minutes record the correct details of the applicant being considered.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (23 004 223)

    Category: Education Date: 12-Mar-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide an education and specialist provision in line with her son, F’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan since March 2023 when his named placement could no longer meet his needs. She said it also failed to issue F’s amended EHC Plan following an annual review. The Council was at fault. It agreed to apologise and make payments to recognise the impact on F’s education and the distress and uncertainty caused to Mrs X. It will also carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers in its Special Educational Needs Disabilities (SEND) team of the duty to comply with statutory timescales following an annual review of a child or young person's Education, Health and Care Plan.The Council’s SEND team agreed to review how it carries out its due diligence for children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans who for whatever reason cannot attend their named placement. This is to ensure it fully considers its duty to provide the education outlined in their EHC Plans to prevent gaps in education. The Council should outline the actions and steps it intends to take.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (22 017 754)

    Category: Housing Date: 23-Apr-2023

    Summary

    The Council failed to provide evidence of compliance with recommendations previously made by the Ombudsman. The Council agreed to consider whether Miss B should be in a higher housing priority band, but it did not. This was fault. The Council failed to remedy the injustice caused to Miss B by the faults found in our first investigation. The Council will act to remedy the injustice caused by its fault.

    Service improvements

    Share the Ombudsman’s 2023 report, “More Home Truths”, with all staff working in its housing and homelessness departments.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (22 017 108)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 20-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Mr Y complains the Council’s decision to restrict his contact directly interfered with his legal obligations as Lasting Power of Attorney. There is fault in some elements of the complaint which caused Mr Y some confusion and time and trouble. The Council will apologise and undertake the service improvements listed at the end of this statement.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind any officers responsible for writing RPR entries to ensure they are appropriately updated with any key changes, such as when a person has LPA. This is important to ensure the attorney can fulfil their legal duties in respect of the person lacking capacity.The Council will remind officers of the requirement to update the RPR on occasions when the Council has invited the person to have their objections recorded on the database.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (22 015 211)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Sep-2023

    Summary

    Ms X’s son, Z, would have attended a specialist primary school placement sooner, were it not for the Council’s delay in carrying out his Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. The Council delayed by 23 weeks in finalising Z’s EHC plan, failed to consult the specialist school Ms X requested in a timely way, and communicated poorly with Ms X during this time. The Council has agreed to apologise and pay Ms X £650 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty caused by the delay. Particularly as this happened during a key phase transfer in Z’s education. The Council has also agreed to pay Ms X £300 in recognition of the frustration caused to her by the Council’s poor communication and delay and carry out several service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to take action to prevent future delays in processing Education, Health and Care needs assessments.The Council has agreed to remind staff that where the Council becomes aware that a child in early years education will likely require an Education, Health and Care plan, it must start the process of assessment without delay, and with that child's key phases of education in mind.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (22 014 923)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 23-Aug-2023

    Summary

    Mr D complained the Council delayed completing an assessment of his care needs and it delayed putting necessary support in place. He also says the Council initially refused to allow him to have an advocate and it refused to properly deal with his complaints. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in sending Mr D a copy of his assessment. There was also some fault with how it dealt with the concerns Mr D raised about its service. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware they should provide assessments under the Care Act 2014 to customers and their relatives without unnecessary delay.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (22 011 516)

    Category: Environment and regulation Date: 26-Apr-2023

    Summary

    Mr X complains the Council has delayed acting on a statutory noise nuisance. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for delaying action on a statutory noise nuisance. The Ombudsman also finds fault with the Council for misleading Mr X during its complaint handling. The Council has agreed to make a financial payment and service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide training and guidance to complaint handlers to ensure that accurate information is sought as part of complaint investigations.The Council has agreed to review the process for taking action where someone does not comply with an abatement notice. The Council will specifically look at how it can act in a timely manner once it has agreed to take legal action.

  • London Borough of Hillingdon (22 004 511)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 26-Apr-2023

    Summary

    Ms J complained the care provided to her sister Ms L, by the Council commissioned care provider, was insufficient and the Council delayed in changing the care provider following her request to do so. The Council delayed increasing Ms L’s care package, did not have due regard to Ms L’s human rights and delayed in changing the care provider. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms L and pay her £750 to acknowledge the uncertainty and distress caused by the faults identified.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant staff:of the importance of keeping clear and accurate records about decisions on how long a care call for domicillary care should take in each individual’s circumstance; of the statutory guidance about when a person’s adult care and support plan should be reviewed and provide guidance on how to recognise a request for a review; and of the core FREDA principles of the Human Rights Act 1998, and provide guidance on how the FREDA principles should be considered when commissioning domiciliary care.The Council will ensure the brokerage process indicates the Council should proactively request quotes from more than one adult social care provider where a person's care package is complex or likely to be high cost, to minimise delay.

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