Case Ref: 22 013 178 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Parking and other penalties

• The Council will arrange a training session for officers dealing with parking fines to ensure they understand the statutory declaration process and the circumstances in which a statutory declaration can be made. That training session should also cover how to deal with vulnerable debtors and the options available once the debt has been passed to the enforcement agents.
• The Council will consider whether to amend the Council’s vulnerability policy to cover the options open to the Council when it identifies a debtor’s vulnerability late in the process when the case is already with the enforcement agent.

Case Ref: 22 000 294 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind staff dealing with complaints to adhere to the Council's complaints policy.

Case Ref: 22 003 393 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Other

• Remind staff of the duty under the Equality Act to make reasonable adjustment.

Case Ref: 22 003 119 Category: Housing Sub Category: Private housing

• The Council agreed to remind officers dealing with these cases of the need to: i) ensure decisions not to take further action are not over reliant on the evidence of just one party; ii) keep written records of any housing health and safety rating system assessment; iii) ensure good and timely updates are communicated with those reporting problems.
• The Council agreed to ensure officers are aware of the need to consider and decide whether an early visit to inspect reports of housing disrepair is needed.
• The Council agreed to ensure officers are aware of the need to consider whether those reporting problems are homeless where they consider it unreasonable for them to continue to live in unsuitable accommodation.
• The Council agreed to contact the landlord for confirmation and evidence that works to rectify the category 1 and 2 hazards it identified have now been done,particularly before the property is relet.

Case Ref: 22 001 761 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• Arrange training for the Achieve Together staff on care plans. This should include training on the importance of providing the care detailed in the care plan.
• In respect of a care home run by Achieve Together, undertake regular monitoring of its records to establish improvement in care plan adherence.
• Complete a review of Achieve Together's actions in relation to following the care plan from the Council's visits to the care home and share lessons learned with us and the care provider

Case Ref: 22 001 579 Category: Housing Sub Category: Other

• The Council will consider any recent evidence from the complainant about the current situation and consider what action it should take.

Case Ref: 21 018 806 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will ensure the staff in the homelessness team are reminded that suitability of temporary accommodation is the Council's ongoing duty and should be kept under review, especially when notified of a change in the circumstances. The Council will send us the written confirmation of the staff having completed this task, indicating when it happened and how many officers participated.
• The Council will ensure all staff dealing with the Housing Register applications review the Council's Housing Allocation Scheme and paragraph 5.23 of the Allocation of accommodation: guidance for local housing authorities in England. The Council will send us the written confirmation of the staff having completed this task, indicating when it happened and how many officers participated.

Case Ref: 21 018 440 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the change to the definition of priority need introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021.
• The Council has agreed to amend relevant template letters, emails and internal guidance to include the up-to-date definition of priority need.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the proactive duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act and provide training or guidance as needed.

Case Ref: 21 014 790 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council will investigate the reasons why the complainant was not notified of the financial assessment outcome in April 2020 and the reasons it took until January 2022 for this to happen. This should inform feedback and guidance to staff dealing with financial assessments, as well as measures to avoid similar occurrences.

Case Ref: 21 014 538 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Parking and other penalties

• The Council agreed to review the information on its website to ensure it clearly explains the different stages for challenging a Penalty Charge Notice including the informal challenge, formal representations and appeals to the independent adjudicator.
• The Council agreed to prepare a parking enforcement policy in accordance with statutory guidance 'Guidance for local authorities on enforcing parking restrictions'. It should ensure the policy is available to the public via its website.