Service improvements

Oxfordshire County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026

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 - 6 of 6 cases with service improvements

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

  • Oxfordshire County Council (25 007 162)

    Category: Education Date: 16-Mar-2026

    Summary

    The Council failed to put in place education for Mrs X’s son when it knew he could not attend school due to medical reasons and wrongly pursued Mrs X for attendance issues. That meant Mrs X’s son missed out on education and Mrs X experienced distress. An apology, payment to Mrs X and guidance for officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide guidance to officers on the factors to consider before issuing attendance warning letters to parents when a child is not attending school.

  • Oxfordshire County Council (24 019 966)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Dec-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council failed to carry out an Education Health and Care Plan needs assessment properly for her child, B. She also complained the Council failed to provide alternative education to B. The Council was at fault. It failed to provide alternative education to B. The Council will make a payment to Mrs X, provide guidance and training to its staff, and conduct a review of B’s case.

    Service improvements

    Carry out a review of B’s case to identify what led to the failure to fulfil its duty to organise alternative provision for B.Remind staff of its duty to provide alternative provision when a child of statutory school age is out of school for health reasons, exclusion, or otherwise. The Council should consider sharing a copy of our focus report ‘Out of school…. Out of sight?’ and our final decision with the reminder.Provide evidence the Council has delivered the annual training to its staff, about its section 19 duties (Education Act, 1996). Should this not be complete, organise the training to be delivered within the next 12 weeks.

  • Oxfordshire County Council (24 018 578)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 31-Aug-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained for her husband Mr X about his care in a council-funded care home. We found fault as care did not reflect Mr X’s preferences, he was not supported to walk, he had only infrequent showers and did not get enough opportunities to take part in activities he was interested in. The Council will apologise, make symbolic payments to reflect avoidable distress and complete a review by the quality assurance team.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send us a copy of a written report of a quality monitoring visit to the care home. The report should set out an action plan for improvements to the care home's service in the areas where we found fault.

  • Oxfordshire County Council (24 014 498)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Jul-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained on behalf of Mr and Mrs Y. Mr and Mrs Y complained the Council failed to provide their grandson, Z, with a suitable education since September 2023. They also complained the Council failed to reassess Z’s need and issue an appealable decision. Mr and Mrs Y also complained the Council failed to ensure Z received the provision in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. They also complained about issues with how the school handled Z’s behaviours. Mr and Mrs Y said this distressed Z and his family, and he missed out on education and EHC Plan provision. There was fault in the way the Council delayed completing the reassessment of Z’s needs, did not ensure Z received education and plan provision and complaint handling was poor. This frustrated and distressed Mr and Mrs Y and Z missed education and plan provision. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and issue guidance to its staff.

    Service improvements

    Remind relevant staff of the importance of effective complaint handling, adhering to timescales and ensuring a complainant is offered the option to escalate their complaint.

  • Oxfordshire County Council (24 013 800)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained of the Council’s handling of her child (Y’s) Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan during a phase transfer. This included poor communication and a failure to issue Y’s amended final EHC Plan by 15 February in line with statutory timescales. The Council was at fault for its communication and the three-month delay in issuing Y’s EHC Plan. This caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty and delayed her appeal rights to the SEND tribunal. The Council has agreed to make a payment to recognise this.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault for its poor communication and three month delay in issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council will remind Special Educational Needs and Disability officers to contact parents/carers the autumn term the year before the transfer to discuss the phase transfer process with them.The Council will update its website to include information about phase transfers so parents/carers are informed about what this is, when it should be carried out and the relevant timescales.

  • Oxfordshire County Council (24 010 440)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about how the Council dealt with its investigation into her concerns that her child’s nursery had been wrongfully charging her compulsory top-up fees which was not allowed by law. Mrs X also complained about the Council’s poor communication with her. There were some faults by the Council which caused injustice to Mrs X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    • Share this decision outcome with other Free Early Education Entitlement nurseries/providers in its borough to remind them of its expectations in terms of charging compulsory top-up fees in line with statutory guidance. Invoices and receipts should itemise all charges so parents can see they have received their child’s free entitlement and understand that in all cases, all chargeable extras must not be a condition of taking up a free place at nurseries.• Provide the Ombudsman with evidence to show the Council has put in place increased annual audits of nurseries in its borough to ensure they comply with Early Education and Childcare statutory guidance.

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