Case Ref: 24 001 762 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind relevant staff of the need to produce final EHC Plans within12 weeks of a review meeting.
• The Council will also remind relevant staff of the need to ensure funding arrangements are actioned promptly following a SEND Tribunal.

Case Ref: 24 001 219 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to provide training or guidance ondomestic abuse to all housing staff dealing with homelessness and allocationsapplications to ensure they understand (1) the changes introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021; (2) the requirements of chapter 21 of the Homelessness Code of Guidance;and (3) how to appropriately deal with homelessness and housing registerapplicants at risk of domestic abuse;
• The Council has agreed to share with its housing staff our recently published GoodPractice Guide - Domestic abuse in housing
• The Council has agreed to report to us on the action it has taken to ensure it hasgiven proper consideration to the need for provision of refuge accommodationfor male victims of domestic abuse within its area.

Case Ref: 23 021 400 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind relevant Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) officers that the Council remains responsible for ensuring provision outlined in Education, Health and Care Plans are delivered in schools regardless of whether the funding has been provided to schools.
• The Council will ensure it has sufficient procedures in place for officers to maintain oversight and respond to concerns that children and young people are not receiving provision set out in an Education, Health and Care Plan to prevent circumstances from drifting without action.

Case Ref: 23 018 401 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will remind officers dealing with medical assessments of the need to ensure the decision on an applicant’s banding is made by the Council after taking into account medical advice rather than simply relying on the medical recommendation.
• The Council will remind officers dealing with decisions on homeless applications to inform applicants that their housing register application has been closed when the Council has discharged its duty and to inform them of how to make a further housing register application if they wish to do so.
• The Council will remind officers that when dealing with a complaint from a Council tenant if there are areas which relate to matters where the Council is not acting as a landlord (such as when dealing with homeless applications) the Council should ensure it provide details of the LGSCO at the end of the complaints process.

Case Ref: 23 013 228 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind special educational needs team members that when refusing a request for a reassessment of need, the Council must provide information on the parent’s right to appeal the decision to the SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability) Tribunal.

Case Ref: 23 013 039 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• By training or other means, share the learning from this complaint with officers and to remind officers of the Council’s duty under section 19 of the Education Act to make alternative provision. This should include that the Council must consider the test of whether the education provided is available and accessible to the child and that the section 19 duty applies to children whether or not they are on the school roll. Officers should also be reminded to record their decision on whether the section 19 duty applies and brief reasons for their decision.
• Ensure it keeps under review children who are attending school part time with a view to increasing their attendance and to monitor the suitability of their education.
• Ensure the medical panel keeps a record of its decisions on whether to refer a child to the medical pathway. The record should include brief reasons for the panel’s decisions.

Case Ref: 23 006 825 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council will review all the Council’s documents which refer to the children’s statutory complaint procedure and ensure they include a list of individuals,other than children and young people or anybody acting on their behalf, who have the right to have their concerns considered through the children’s statutory complaint procedure.
• The Council will review all current complaints about the children’s services which are being considered as corporate complaints and decide whether they should be investigated as children’s statutory complaints.
• The Council will provide training to the staff dealing with children services complaints with a particular focus on the criteria for deciding whether a particular complaint should be considered under the children’s statutory complaint process.
• For six months following this decision the Council will record its reasons for considering each complaint about the Council’s children services under either children’s statutory procedure or corporate complaint process. The Council will provide us with the evidence it has done this.

Case Ref: 23 003 331 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to share a copy of our decision with relevant staff across its Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) service. It will remind staff that:the Council has a statutory duty to secure the SEN provision in a child’s Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan, which it cannot delegate; and where a family raises concerns that an EHC plan is not being delivered, it should properly investigate and assure itself the provision is in place without delay.
• The Council agreed to share a copy of our decision with staff involved in the complaint response in this case. It will remind staff:about the timescales set out in its complaints procedure; and that when the Council accepts fault, it should consider how it can put things right for the complainant, in line with the Ombudsman’s guide, ‘Effective complaint handling for local authorities’.

Case Ref: 23 001 385 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to make clearer for its Special Educational Needs Disabiity officers when Education Health and Care Plans are scheduled for review, when draft and final plans are due to be issued and is considering how it can improve its systems for checking that these are being completed to deadlines.
• The Council was at fault for delay in reviewing an Education Health and Care Plan by more than a year, delay in finalising the Education Health and Care Plan following the annual review, and delay in confirming its decision regarding the placement. It has agreed to share this decision with its education and children's services scrutiny committee.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that Education Health and Care plans need to be reviewed every 12 months.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that when the Council decides to amend an Education Health and Care Plan it must issue an amendment notice, alongside a draft, amended Plan for the parent or young person’s comments, within 4 weeks of the annual review meeting.
• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff that the Council must issue a final Education Health and Care Plan and tell the parent or young person of their appeal rights, within 8 weeks of the amendment notice. Delay in doing so can frustrate or prevent the parent’s right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal and causes avoidable uncertainty and frustration.

Case Ref: 20 008 312 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will remind relevant staff to discuss the disqualification of someone from the housing register with relevant services and agencies where the person's mental or physical disabilities are related to that decision.