Case Ref: 24 008 763 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council has changed the wording of its letters acknowledging receipt of second stage appeals. The letters now give more details about how an appellant can let the Council know if they wish to present their case to a panel.
• The Council has had discussions with appeals panel clerk and panel members “to ensure clarity of proceedings and considerations”.
• The Council has developed a template to record detailed notes of appeal hearings.
• The Council has developed a template agenda for appeal hearings and panel deliberations.

Case Ref: 24 000 097 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will ask the organisation that delivers its homelessness service to remind its staff that they must issue decision letters when the Council no longer owes an applicant a housing duty.
• The Council will work with the organisation that delivers its homelessness service to identify what steps it should take to reduce the delays in making housing decisions should it in future experience staff shortages.

Case Ref: 23 021 101 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to take steps to ensure it issues all homelessness decision letters promptly.

Case Ref: 23 019 659 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council agreed to ensure officers are reminded of the need to promptly clarify, and set out to involved parties, when a private family arrangement is in place and to give information about its implications.

Case Ref: 23 018 267 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• Review the Council’s systems and practice to ensure it completes financial assessments and consider the 12-week property disregard requests (where applicable) in a timely manner.
• By training or other means remind relevant staff they must issue service users and/or their representatives with written record of the financial assessment outcome at an early stage which clearly sets out their assessed contributions towards their care and details of how the payments will be made.
• Remind relevant staff of the importance and need to issue care cost invoices to service users and/or representatives in a timely manner and as soon as practicable after they start receiving care.

Case Ref: 23 014 280 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council has agreed to consider introducing some form of systemised monitoring to ensure that when requests for an assessment are made, the Council makes a timely decision (ideally within four weeks) as to whether it will carry out an assessment, who will do it and the timeframe for doing it. The monitoring should continue to ensure the assessment is then completed in a timely manner.

Case Ref: 23 001 017 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Drainage

• Provide evidence the Council has agreed to provide complaints handling refresher training to its staff

Case Ref: 23 000 904 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council will review its processes for investigating complaints under the children's statutory complaints procedure to consider whether any service improvements are required to ensure it completes investigations within the statutory timescales. The Council should provide us with the evidence it has complied with the above actions.

Case Ref: 22 017 725 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to take action to ensure officers give proper consideration to exercising its power to make discretionary property disregards.

Case Ref: 22 015 893 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Refuse and recycling

• The Council has agreed to provide guidance to relevant Council staff, and to the enforcement agency, to ensure they are aware of and understand the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs guidance on the use of fixed penalties for domestic waste receptacle offences.
• The Council has agreed to provide guidance to the enforcement agency explaining the purpose of an FPN and that it does not carry a right of appeal.