Case Ref: 23 011 109 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• Remind all relevant officers of the importance to organise a smooth transition from support in the EHCP to adult social care support and the role of the Council in coordinating different departments and outside agencies.

Case Ref: 23 009 832 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• The Council has agreed to work with Gorton Parks to improve the support it provides for Ms Y, including improving its record keeping to ensure its records and:a) Records reflect the time actions are taken;b) Routine checks are actually carried out;

Case Ref: 23 010 915 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council will remind social workers that they should be clear about who the Council addresses care contribution invoices to, and this record should be kept up to date.

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.