Service improvements

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

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 Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council as a CSV file.

  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (24 001 762)

    Category: Education Date: 07-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complains about the Council’s failure to provide support for his son’s special educational needs as specified in his Education, Health and Care Plan. We found the Council to be at fault because there was delay in providing speech and language therapy and funding for a teaching assistant. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment to acknowledge the lost provision and take action to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (24 001 219)

    Category: Housing Date: 30-Jan-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the Council’s response to his request for homelessness assistance when he was fleeing domestic abuse. We have found fault by the Council, causing injustice, in failing to: properly consider its homelessness duties to Mr X, in particular the duty to provide interim accommodation; refer him to domestic abuse support services; be clear about the information required for his separate housing and homelessness applications; and properly consider the need for the provision of safe accommodation for male domestic abuse victims within its area. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by: apologising to Mr X, making payments to recognise the impact on him of the failure to provide suitable interim accommodation and the distress and upset caused, reviewing his housing register application and making service improvements.

    Service improvements

    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 housingThe 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.

  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (23 021 400)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Mar-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to ensure her child, Y received an education in line with the provision set out in their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan between October 2023 and July 2024. The Council was at fault. Y’s school only let them attend for two hours a day and the Council failed to maintain oversight or resolve this despite Miss X’s complaints. This meant Y did not receive the specialist provision in the Plan during this period. The Council agreed to make payments to acknowledge the impact this had on Y’s education and the distress and uncertainty caused to Miss X. It will also carry out service improvements.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (23 018 401)

    Category: Housing Date: 25-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Miss C complained the Council failed to consider the suitability of a property offered to her, failed to give her information about the housing register process or the right to seek a medical review, failed to provide her with suitable banding on the housing register, delayed considering her complaints and failed to refer her to the LGSCO. The Council failed to carry out the medical assessments properly and failed to signpost Miss C to the LGSCO. There is no evidence of fault in the rest of the complaint. An apology, payment to Miss C and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (23 013 228)

    Category: Education Date: 01-Apr-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the content of her daughter Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, about how the Council reviewed the Plan, provided education and refused her request for a reassessment of Y’s needs. We found the Council delayed in completing the annual review of Y’s EHC Plan, and did not tell Miss X of her appeal rights against its decision not to reassess Y’s needs. The Council agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £400 to recognise the frustration this caused her.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (23 013 039)

    Category: Education Date: 02-Jun-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council failed to provide alternative education provision for her son, Y, when he could not attend school. The Council is at fault as it did not consider whether it had a duty to provide alternative provision for Y. The Council is also at fault as it did not keep Y’s part time attendance at school under review. The faults by the Council caused uncertainty to Mrs X and caused Y to miss five weeks of education provision. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Mrs X and making a symbolic payment of £500 to her for distress and a symbolic payment of £300 for Y. The Council will also reimburse the costs of the alternative provision made by Mrs X during the five weeks period of missed education provision.

    Service improvements

    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.

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