Case Ref: 23 004 542 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Disabled facilities grants

• Remind relevant officers of the timescales for DFGs.

Case Ref: 23 002 723 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council agreed to give reasons related to the decision making criteria when refusingapplications for Holiday Activity and Food funding.
• The Council agreed to ensure the needs of children and young people with protected characteristicsare part of the Council’s assessment of what Holiday Activity and Foodprovision it needs, as well as which provision to fund.

Case Ref: 22 016 187 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council agreed to:Remind staff to record decisions about whether the applicant is owed the interim accommodation duty in the case notes at an early stage in the housing assessment;
• Issue a written reminder to staff about the legal duty to prepare and issue a PHP in every case and to keep it under review.

Case Ref: 22 015 132 Category: Education Sub Category: School admissions

• The Council has agreed to send a reminder to those sitting on fair access protocol panels to remind them of the need to ensure decision-making processes are properly documented in individual cases.

Case Ref: 22 010 311 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to provide evidence of the steps it says it has already taken to set up a reporting system to keep track of annual Education, Health, and Care plan reviews.
• The Council agreed to review its procedures for Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plans, and issue reminders to relevant staff to ensure:when reviewing EHC plans it does so without delay, and issues amendment notices and final amended plans within the correct statutory timescales following the review meeting;where it decides it does not have enough information about a child’s needs to progress an EHC plan review, it should consider, without delay, whether it needs to re-assess their EHC needs;when re-assessing EHC needs it issues a final amended plan as soon as is practicable, and within a maximum of 14 weeks from the decision to re-assess; andit keeps families updated, responds to their queries, and follows up on any agreed actions in good time.
• The Council agreed to issue reminders to relevant staff to ensure that when it is aware a child is out of school for any reason, it:meets its duties under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to secure them alternative education;ensures the suitability of that alternative education for the child’s age, ability, aptitude, and special educational needs; andfollows its own process for arranging suitable alternative education as set out in its policy for arranging alternative education.
• The Council agreed to issue reminders to relevant staff about the importance of being open and accountable when responding to complaints, as set out in the Ombudsman’s guidance, ‘Effective Complaint Handling for Local Authorities, October 2020’.

Case Ref: 22 008 941 Category: Other Categories Sub Category: Commercial and contracts

• The Council should complete its review of the Supported Needs Monitoring Group process. It should ensure it explains how the process operates and where it fits in the wider supported accommodation provision.

Case Ref: 22 008 783 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will review its processes to ensure if the Council is given “reason to believe” an applicant is homeless or is threatened with homelessness, it treats it as a homelessness application. It should send written reminders to relevant staff and amend any internal policy or process documents accordingly.

Case Ref: 22 008 544 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Pollution

• The Council will issue a memo reminding officers to carry out a Housing, Health and Safety Rating System assessment when reaching decisions about what, if any, enforcement action is appropriate when responding to reports of issues with private rented accommodation. The memo will also remind officers of the need to carry out follow up inspections to establish if required works have been completed and/or in response to reports that issues have deteriorated.

Case Ref: 22 001 937 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Council tax

• The Council should update its guidance to council tax and contact centre officers regarding council tax support claims from people on Universal Credit, highlighting the need for communication between departments. This should include advising officers to refer potential claims to its benefits section for it to respond to claimants.

Case Ref: 22 015 405 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will remind officers of the importance of complying with agreed Ombudsman recommendations.