Service improvements

Northumberland County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

Find out more about service improvements

When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Northumberland County Council as a CSV file.

  • Northumberland County Council (22 001 758)

    Category: Planning Date: 12-Jan-2023

    Summary

    Mrs X complains her home is overlooked because the Council failed to properly consider a planning application. There was fault by the Council, but this did not cause injustice to Mrs X.

    Service improvements

    The planning officer did not refer specifically to the comments made by a neighbour in his report. The Council has agreed to provide details of training for planning officers.

  • Northumberland County Council (21 015 998)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 24-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the way the Council handled the child protection process for her child, S, about delays in the statutory children’s complaints procedure and about the Council’s refusal to accept one element of the stage 3 panel’s findings. The Council was at fault for not actively engaging with Miss X’s domestic abuse support worker and for delays in the complaints process. It should apologise and pay Miss X a further £150, making a total payment of £250, to remedy the frustration and distress caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes to ensure it completes investigations under the children's statutory complaints process within statutory timescales.

  • Northumberland County Council (21 011 766)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 21-Jun-2022

    Summary

    The Council was at fault for ending its support of Mr X without warning and without considering referring him to an advocate. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, pay him £500 and take action to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to produce a procedure or guidance for relevant staff on addressing unacceptable behaviour from service users. This should include ensuring that the service user is aware of the behaviour in issue and advised of the potential consequences of any continued unacceptable behaviour.

  • Northumberland County Council (21 011 559)

    Category: Other Categories Date: 29-Jun-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complained about the Council’s handling of her request to use its land for car parking. We found no fault in the Council’s substantive decision making. But its poor communication caused Ms X avoidable distress and frustration, which it had suitably put right with its apologies and offer to waive its £250 legal costs. The Council also agreed to formally adopt and publish a policy about use of its land for car parking.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to adopt, and publish on its website, a policy about the use of its land by residents for off road parking.

  • Northumberland County Council (21 009 137)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 02-Aug-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council failed to provider adequate support to her daughter during the transition to new services, which meant she did not receive support. Mrs X also complained about how the Council communicated about the timeframe for the transition. The Ombudsman intends to find fault with the Council for how it managed the transition to the new provider. The Ombudsman does not intend to find fault with the Council for how decided the timeline for the transition. The Ombudsman recommends a financial remedy and service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review how it ensures that up to date care plans are completed before any transition to new services, and how it communicates this with professionals and parents/guardians before the transition.

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