Case Ref: 25 006 066 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will review its processes for when a property has been identified as unsuitable. The process should ensure action is taken when a suitability assessment identifies a property as unsuitable.

Case Ref: 25 004 338 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council was at fault for not taking any substantive actions on a homelessness case for around nine months, between June 2024 and January 2025. The Council has agreed to put measures in place to monitor and act on homelessness cases where it has a duty to provide temporary accommodation and has yet to do so.

Case Ref: 24 023 261 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• We found the Council at fault for the time taken to complete a housing reassessment. The Council agreed to remind relevant housing staff that where a review or reassessment decision is delayed pending further enquiries, they should provide the applicant with a clear update explaining the reason for the delay and the expected next steps.

Case Ref: 24 019 903 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council will align its policy and the information on its website about whether the Council will, or will not, “full-cost” service users when financial information is not provided to enable the Council to complete a financial assessment. The Council can follow whichever practice it considers suitable but should ensure the information and approach is consistent
• The Council will remind staff in its Adult Social Care service to provide service users with the Care and Support Plans on completion of these documents and without significant delay
• The Council will remind staff in its Financial Assessment service to complete financial assessments of service users within an appropriate and reasonable timeframe, in line with the requirements set out in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance
• The Council will remind staff in its Financial Assessment service to provide early information about the Council’s care arrangement fees to service users

Case Ref: 24 017 313 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to issue a briefing note (or series of notes) to all relevant housing and homelessness staff. They should use this case as a case study and must include guidance on the following areas: Statutory duties and interim accommodation; Assessing suitability after Section 21 expiry; Accuracy and timeliness of Personal Housing Plans; Handling and assessment of medical evidence; Statutory timescales for review requests.

Case Ref: 24 016 588 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will provide guidance to officers on: the suitability issues they should consider before allocating interim accommodation to those with children under the age of 2;the suitability issues they should consider before allocating interim accommodation to those fleeing domestic abuse; andaccess to interim and temporary accommodation by males when the homeless applicant is fleeing domestic abuse.

Case Ref: 24 016 572 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council agreed to: correct the errors in its post-16 Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) travel assistance policy to ensure this properly reflects the appeal process it follows in practice;review its record keeping procedures for post-16 SEND transport appeals to ensure it keeps proper records of decision making at Stage 1 and Stage 2; andprovide training to relevant staff involved in consideration of post-16 SEND transport appeals at Stage 1 and Stage 2, to address the faults we identified.

Case Ref: 24 015 162 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure they are aware of the Council’s low threshold to provide interim accommodation if it has reason to believe an applicant may be homeless, eligible for assistance and in priority need.

Case Ref: 24 001 291 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will review and amend its SEND school transport policy about medication so that it reflects statutory guidance. In particular, the Council should ensure it does not fetter its discretion and ensures it makes its decisions based on the individual circumstances and medical needs of a child or young person.
• The Council will send written notifications to relevant transport staff, to include the reasons for the changes in its SEND transport policy relating to medication and reminders to act in line with this.

Case Ref: 23 019 974 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind staff about the importance of properly considering an applicant’s specific circumstances when making transport decisions. In line with the Ombudsman’s ‘Principles of Good Administrative Practice’ the Council will remind staff of the importance of ensuring decisions are properly recorded.
• The Council will remind relevant officers about the need to set out the transport appeal panel’s decision making in outcome letters, as per the requirements set out in the statutory school transport guidance.
• The Council will remind the relevant staff of the requirement to seek the applicant’s consent before providing travel expenses such as a transport allowance budget.