Case Ref: 24 006 441 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Domiciliary care

• The Council has agreed to provide evidence that:a) it has a plan in place to make sure people receiving care and support have their needs reviewed at least every 12 months and it is monitoring compliance;b) it has processes in place to ensure care providers are meeting all the care needs the Council has identified;c) MiHomecare is doing regular spot checks to ensure its care workers are cleaning to the right standard.

Case Ref: 24 005 288 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• Review its communication strategy to ensure parents are regularly updated on the status of their child’s case, particularly when alternative educational provision is being considered. The Council should provide the Ombudsman with the outcome of its review and any proposed service changes.

Case Ref: 24 004 400 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• The Council will issue a written reminder to staff in its complaints team to apply the wording of its complaints policy on late complaints.

Case Ref: 24 003 536 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will review the information it gives staff in its housing service and medical advisors about how to complete medical assessments to ensure it meets the expectations set out in the Ombudsman's focus report 'Medical assessments for housing applications'.

Case Ref: 23 020 724 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will provide evidence the Housing Officer involved has completed refreshed training on how to recognise domestic abuse, and to provide necessary support irrespective of the frequency of domestic abuse incidents.
• The Council will remind all housing officers to complete personalised housing plans properly and thoroughly. In particular, not to leave the section called “What actions/reasonable steps the Housing Options Officer will do next” blank. This is because it is vital that applicants know what the Council has agreed to do to help secure or keep accommodation.

Case Ref: 23 020 048 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council agreed that it would issue a reminder to all relevant staff on the importance of proof-reading letters sent to homeless applicants to stress the importance of including reasons for decisions and to try and avoid basic factual errors.
• The Council also agreed that it would put a procedure or protocol in place to follow up with its medical adviser when waiting for their advice. It would also remind relevant staff of the need to follow such procedure or protocol. This would be to avoid applicants experiencing delay in finding out the outcome of a request for medical priority points under its housing allocation policy.

Case Ref: 23 019 982 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disability Service to ensure: 1. the statutory timescales for the Education, Health, and Care plan process following annual reviews are always adhered to. Including in circumstances where it receives late request for further educational needs provision from parents; and 2. requests from parents are responded to and views from schools or other professionals are sought without delay. This is to ensure good communication with those involved and to avoid unnecessary delays in the process.

Case Ref: 23 018 981 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to remind homelessness staff that the advice they offer applicants fleeing domestic abuse must set out all their housing options so they can make an informed choice. This should include all options they may have to join the housing register, in particular under the reasonable preference categories set out in section 166 of the Housing Act.

Case Ref: 23 018 182 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Friends and family carers

• The Council will provide evidence of the following:the Council raising the importance of engaging with foster carers even when children or young people do now want to meet their social workers;the Council sharing Miss X’s suggestion that fostering training should cover what happens when things go wrong, or placements break down. The Council should also provide the outcome of this.

Case Ref: 23 013 997 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Other

• By training or other means, remind relevant staff to ensure they take debtors’ individual circumstances into account and to avoid adopting a blanket approach when setting up debtors’ payment plans.