Service improvements

Nottinghamshire County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2027

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 - 10 of 18 cases with service improvements

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

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (24 021 977)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Nov-2025

    Summary

    The Council delayed arranging alternative education when a pupil was too anxious to return to school and delayed securing special educational provision in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council has agreed to apologise, reimburse tuition costs, make a symbolic financial payment and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure that it responds to parent requests for evidence in an EHC needs assessment in writing setting out whether the request has been agreed and if not, why the Council does not consider the request to be reasonable.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (24 020 005)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Sep-2025

    Summary

    We found fault on Miss Y’s complaint about the Council failing to provide her son with a suitably qualified and trained tutor, experienced in working with young people with autism and anxiety. It failed to show it considered whether the tutor was appropriately trained. Nor did it show steps it took to find an alternative tutor when alerted to the tutor’s shortcomings. The Council agreed to send her an apology for the failings found and remind relevant officers of the need to check whether tutors meet specified criteria and to consider whether it, or the provider, could act to resolve the problem. It would also remind officers of the need to promptly look for an alternative tutor where criteria are not met. There was no fault on Miss Y’s complaint about it failing to reimburse her when she paid the second tutor’s shortfall in wages when changing employer. This was a contractual matter for the tutor and employer.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to check and explore whether teachers and teaching assistants referred to in Education Health and Care plans meet any specified criteria set out.The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to consider whether, in cases where teachers and teaching assistants referred to in Education Health and Care plans do not meet specified criteria set out, the provider, or the tutor themselves could take appropriate action to resolve the problem.The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to promptly consider looking for an alternative tutor where teachers and teaching assistants referred to in Education Health and Care plans do not meet any specified criteria set out.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (24 016 102)

    Category: Education Date: 21-May-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained that the Council failed to ensure his child (Y) received the specialist provision set out in their Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council failed to ensure Occupational Therapy (OT) was in place from September 2024 to date. This caused Mr X distress, frustration and uncertainty and meant Y’s needs went unmet for longer than necessary. The Council has agreed to make a payment to recognise this.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault for failing to ensure a child received the specialist provision set out in their Education Health and Care Plan following a SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) tribunal hearing in July 2024. The Council has agreed to provide a copy of the tribunal triage process the Council has implemented to ensure that actions following an appeal are completed.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (24 001 433)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Nov-2024

    Summary

    The complainant (Mrs X) said the Council had failed to arrange alternative provision for her son (Y) when he could not attend his school. We found fault with the Council which meant Y lost some education. The Council’s fault also caused injustice to Mrs X. We did not investigate anything that happened from the second week of March 2024 as Mrs X appealed the Education Health and Care Plan issued for Y at this time and alternative provision was closely linked to the appeal issues. The Council agreed to apologise, make payments to recognise Y’s and Mrs X’s injustice and carry out some service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes in place for children on part-time timetable or not attending school to ensure there are mechanisms to make timely decisions on theCouncil’s alternative provision duty following the test set up in paragraph 29 of this decision.The Council will remind the front-line special educational needs (SEN) staff and their managers of the Council’s duties for children who are not attending their school. The SEN staff will review our Focus Report “Outof school, out of sight? Ensuring children out of school get a good education”.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (24 000 894)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to properly consider its duty to provide alternative education provision for his child, Z, and failed to put in place school transport. The Council was not at fault in how it considered and later arranged alternative provision. However the Council did provide incorrect information to Mr Z through its complaint response which implied it had not properly considered its education duties to Z. The Council has agreed to apologise for the uncertainty this caused to Mr X and issue reminders to its complaints officers to prevent recurrence of the fault in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind all officers who respond to education complaints, of the Council’s duties under section 19 of the Education Act. In particular that it is the Council’s responsibility to make decisions about whether alternative provision is required for a child - not the school’s - and ensure its complaint responses reflect that.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (23 018 143)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Jul-2024

    Summary

    There was delay in updating an Education, Health and Care Plan in time for a transition from school to college; a failure to specify and quantify provision in the Plan; a failure to check special educational provision was in place; and a failure to complete agreed complaint actions. This caused unnecessary distress and let to a young adult missing out on education support at a crucial stage of their transition to adult life. The Council will apologise, work with the family to resolve the problems with the Plan, make a financial payment and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure EHC review meetings are held in good time for pupils transitioning between placements with prompt decisions made and Plans reviewed and updated within timescales in the Act, Regulations and Code.The Council will ensure EHC Plans are properly quantified and specified.The Council will ensure complaint outcomes are followed up and the Council has mechanisms to track agreed actions through to completion.The Council will ensure it has have mechanisms in place to ensure Section F provision is in place when a new or amended Plan is issued.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (23 016 194)

    Category: Education Date: 27-Jun-2024

    Summary

    the Council failed to put in place suitable education for Mrs B’s daughter when she could not attend school, failed to put in place all the provision in her education, health and care plan and failed to respond to Mrs B’s communications. An apology, payment to Mrs B and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a reminder to officers dealing with EHC Plans to remind them of the need to ensure any provision not affected by an appeal is put into place from the date of the final EHC Plan.The Council will send a reminder to officers dealing with children unable to access education due to medical issues about the need to consider putting in place alternative provision if it is accepted a child cannot return to school.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (23 012 571)

    Category: Education Date: 29-May-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council stopped giving her child, Q, free school meals in May 2022. The Council was at fault for stopping the meals. It was also at fault for giving Mrs X confusing information about Q’s eligibility for free school meals. This caused Mrs X avoidable frustration and distress and meant she had to pay for Q’s meals while on an already low income. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Mrs X. It should also issue staff reminders and update its website on free school meals.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind staff of the eligibility criteria for free school meals and clarify that there is no duty to provide them if a child attends an independent school. The reminder should include that new government guidance says councils should give free school meals to children on Education Otherwise Than At School packages, where they would be eligible if they attended a mainstream school.The Council will remind staff that when they are arranging a school placement for a child with an Education, Health and Care Plan, they should speak to the child's parent or guardian if the intended placement would mean the child would no longer have free school meals.The Council will update its website to explain it only has to provide free school meals for children that attend mainstream settings and that it has chosen to offer the meals to children with an Education Otherwise Than At School package, in line with the March 2024 government guidance.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (23 011 077)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly assess her child’s Education, Health, and Care needs within statutory timescales. There were delays which caused avoidable distress for Mrs X and her child. The Council agreed to pay a financial remedy to Mrs X. It will also provide an update to the Ombudsman about the progress it has made in clearing its backlog for Education, Health, and Care needs assessments.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to provide an update to the Ombudsman about the progress it has made in clearing its backlog for Education, Health, and Care (EHC) needs assessments. This will include a copy of its latest updated action plan to increase Educational Psychologist capacity and reduce waiting times for EHC assessments.

  • Nottinghamshire County Council (22 017 740)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Aug-2023

    Summary

    There was delay in finalising an EHC plan in 2021 and 2022 and a failure to respond to a request for statutory reassessment. This caused distress, frustration, time and trouble and delayed a right of appeal by eight months. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment and carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers about the importance of completing Education, Health and Care plan annual reviews on time and of providing written decision letters with appeal rights where required.The Council should review whether it has adequate diary and reminder processes in place for officers to keep track of missed deadlines or missing documents.

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