Case Ref: 23 018 143 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 016 194 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 015 872 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Traffic management

• Share this decision with relevant staff and remind them that they should assess TRO requests in accordance with the policy, and that the complaints process extends to complaints that policies have not been properly applied.

Case Ref: 23 013 989 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council will remind staff dealing with complaints of the importance of following the statutory complaints procedure in relation to section 17 matters.

Case Ref: 23 012 571 Category: Education Sub Category: Other

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 011 077 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 23 001 921 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• The Council will explain what action it will take to support the care home to put in place appropriate tools for care staff in how to recognise, record, and promptly respond to, deterioration in a resident's condition.

Case Ref: 22 017 740 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 22 016 518 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will share with the Ombudsman evidence it has completed its proposed service improvement recommendations, which were to:•recruit additional staff to its SEND Team to effectively manage caseloads;•review and refine its current Education, Health and Care plan system and processes, including how it consults with school and reaches its decisions on placements; •improve the way it tracks and monitors children and young people who are not in school full-time or receive alternative provision; and •ensure all its staff has the knowledge and skills to enable them to have greater accountability for children with Education, Health and Care plans they are responsible for.

Case Ref: 22 013 566 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council should monitor our previous recommendations to ensure compliance.
• Within three moths the Council should ensure Special Education Needs staff send post-review letters within four weeks from the review meeting, notifying of the Council’s position
• Within three moths the Council should ensure Special Education Needs staff issue final Education Health and Care Plan’s within eight weeks of the date of the Council sending proposed EHCP amendments to the parents/young people, and
• Within three months the Council should ensure Special Education Needs staff check the provision in new and amended Education Health and Care Plan’s is being delivered.