Service improvements

Southend-on-Sea City 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 Southend-on-Sea City Council as a CSV file.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council (24 007 529)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 25-Mar-2025

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to take action to protect her child. She says this meant her and her child missed intervention and support. We find fault with the Council for failing to identify suitable remedies for Miss X during the statutory complaints process. The Council has agreed to pay a financial remedy to Miss X for distress.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff of the importance of accurate recording keeping and the important role this plays in decision making during casework, but also during complaint handling.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council (24 006 348)

    Category: Transport and highways Date: 25-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with his representations about five penalty charge notices (PCN’s) and the subsequent action the Council took to recover the debt. He complained the Council failed to take account of his personal circumstances and vulnerability when making its decisions. We found the Council and enforcement agents’ failure to properly explore Mr X’s claimed vulnerability before proceeding with enforcement was fault. This caused Mr X unnecessary distress. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a payment and take action to improve its service.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff, including those employed by its enforcement agents, that they need to consider vulnerability promptly, record any decisions and clearly coordinate action between the Council and the enforcement agent.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council (24 000 158)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complains that the Council delayed in issuing a final Education, Health and Care Plan for his child Z. The Council was at fault as there was a delay in receiving an Educational Psychologist’s report and delay in issuing Z’s final Education, Health and Care Plan. The delays caused distress and frustration to Mr X and his family and Z missed specific special educational needs provision for a period of 17 weeks. The Council also failed to discuss a personal budget with Mr X. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice by apologising to Mr X and making a symbolic payment of £1300 to acknowledge the distress caused to him and his family and to acknowledge Z’s missed special educational provision.

    Service improvements

    By training or other means, remind officers that they should discuss with parents/carers whether a personal budget is appropriate once it has issued the draft Education, Health and Care Plan.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 008 265)

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

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the care provided to her mother, Mrs Y, by a Council-funded care home. These concerns were investigated by the Council during two safeguarding enquiries. We found the Council took too long to complete the first enquiry, leaving Mrs Y exposed to risk for longer than necessary. Many of Mrs X’s concerns were substantiated by both enquiries, and so we found fault with the Council for delivering poor care. We also criticised the Council’s complaint handling. We made recommendations to address the faults we found.

    Service improvements

    Improve the information on its website to include information about the complaints process for people who are unhappy with council-funded care. Ensure that the webpage is clear about the fact the statutory adult social care complaints procedure is a single-stage investigation process before escalation to the Ombudsman.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council (23 006 554)

    Category: Education Date: 17-Jul-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to ensure her son (B) received an education when he was unable to attend school. She also complained the Council delayed issuing B’s final Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans, delayed obtaining relevant assessments, and did not respond to her complaints. We have found the Council failed to properly consider its Section 19 duty at key points in the 2021/22 academic year. We have also found the Council failed to fulfil its Section 19 duty in the 2022/23 academic year. These faults caused a loss of education provision and support for B. We have also found the Council at fault for failing to issue B’s EHC Plans within statutory timescales and for failing to respond to Ms X’s complaint. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice this caused. We have also recommended the Council act to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to share a copy of the Ombudsman's decision and our focus report Out of school, out of sight? with relevant staff, to remind officers of steps the Council should take to consider and adhere to its Section 19 duty to provide alternative education provision.The Council has agreed to compile an action plan setting out the proposed improvements it will make to its services, allowing it to issue Education, Health and Care Plans quicker following an annual review. The Council will share this action plan with the Ombudsman.

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council (22 017 838)

    Category: Housing Date: 27-Jun-2024

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council failed to properly consider her circumstances and supporting evidence when assessing her housing priority. She also said the Council restricted her housing options. We have not found the Council at fault for how it considered Miss X’s housing circumstances and supporting evidence. We have found the Council at fault for a delay in completing its review of Miss X’s housing priority. We have found the Council at fault for errors in its allocations system, which led to Miss X being wrongly restricted from bidding on properties that met her housing needs. We have also found the Council at fault for its communication about this issue. We have made recommendations for the Council to remedy the injustice caused and to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council will prepare an action plan setting out how it will check its partner landlords are aware of how to correctly advertise properties on its choice-based lettings system, and how it will ensure this is happening. The Council will share its action plan with the Ombudsman.

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