Case Ref: 21 004 119 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council will ensure residents of care home places commissioned by the Council are provided with information about the process for terminating a care home place and that charges will apply in the event of hospital admission. This information should be provided when a resident is admitted to a care home and could be included in the individual placement agreement.

Case Ref: 21 001 512 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council to remind officers to ensure they update and record any decision made about a task and its progress or otherwise, before removing it from a child protection plan.

Case Ref: 20 012 215 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• We found the Council failed to apply the correct test of whether school transport was necessary to transport a pupil with an EHC Plan to the school named in that EHC Plan. The Council's policy wrongly referred to the need to show 'exceptional circumstances'. The Council agreed to review within six months all similar decisions to ensure the correct test had been applied and its School Transport Policy to ensure it quoted the correct test.

Case Ref: 20 010 070 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Noise

• The Council has agreed to provide more detailed guidance to staff on when to install noise monitoring equipment.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff to ensure records detail any decision not to install noise monitoring equipment when the Council has been unable to witness reported noise.

Case Ref: 20 008 618 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council will remind its staff they should keep proper records of the Council's decision to exclude an individual from a child protection core group and ensure that decision is communicated to the person promptly. They should do the same when the Council decides not to record the person's views in the core group meetings.
• The Council will remind its staff they must provide parents with minutes of child protection conference and core group meeting minutes as soon as possible, particularly where the parent is excluded from the core group. The Council will also remind its staff they must give parents copies of the preceding core group minutes at least three days before a review child protection conference.
• The Council will remind its staff that where they offer informal update agreements, they must adhere to the plan. If the plan becomes unsuitable, the Council should record its decision and communicate it to the person receiving the updates. It will also remind its staff to ensure they give parents timely information on the action the Council has taken in response to urgent concerns.
• The Council will remind its staff they must ensure child protection plans include all of the information required by the Greater Manchester Safeguarding Partnership's policy.
• The Council will consider whether to introduce a template form to give to people excluded from core groups when seeking their views in advance of core group meetings.

Case Ref: 20 008 516 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Looked after children

• the Council will: Review its homelessness applications from 16/17 years old between April 2019 to March 2020 (lockdown) to check compliance with statutory guidance and, if applications have not been dealt with properly, the Council will remedy the injustice without the young person having to complain.
• the Council will: inform staff of the Council's guidance on how to deal with homeless 16/17 years old who are at risk and in need; and remind staff to give the Council's booklet, setting out the statutory guidance regarding homelessness/s20, to young people and ensure they are aware of the statutory complaints procedure.

Case Ref: 20 007 626 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council has agreed, within two months, to circulate guidance to all relevant staff, explaining they should give proper, individual consideration to whether to recover a COVID-19 business grant paid in error, where the error was not due to manipulation or fraud by the business.

Case Ref: 20 006 314 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council will Remind adult social care staff of the importance of providing documents and information at the relevant time.

Case Ref: 19 019 250 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council will review its processes for responding to DRE requests.

Case Ref: 19 010 763 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• Within three months of the date of our decision, the Council will provide evidence to the Ombudsmen of: the solution to its electronic records; how it has ensured staff know where to look for all relevant records; the review of its training, induction and supervision for agency workers and its quality assurance panel.
• Within three months of the date of our decision, the Council will ensure relevant staff are aware: of the different funding streams that can be used to help discharge patients from hospital; and the need to record these accurately on social care records; and that residents do not have to move to a cheaper care home in the absence of a third party top-up, if an assessment concludes this would harm them or there is no available suitable alternative.
• Within three months of the date of our decision, the Council will review: its processes for providing information to citizens about adult social care, including financial information and information about top-ups, to check whether the processes comply with the Care Act 2014 and associated guidance. Where it identifies problems, the Council will produce an action plan to rectify them and inform relevant staff; and the standard information it gives to the public about adult social care, including financial information and information about top-ups, to check whether the content complies with the Care Act 2014 and associated guidance. Where it identifies problems, the Council will amend the content and inform relevant staff and other stakeholders about the changes.