St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 012 158)

Statement Upheld Child protection 10-Apr-2024

Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council considered his complaint about child protection matters through the children’s statutory complaint procedure. We found the Council delayed in completing some of the statutory complaint procedure. It agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mr X to recognise the distress this caused.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 011 396)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 07-May-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed issuing a final Education, Health and Care plan for her son in reasonable time when he transferred from primary to secondary school. I have found the Council at fault. It did not issue a final plan in line with the statutory guidance, and this caused Mrs X an injustice. The Council will apologise, recognise the delay this had on Mrs X’s appeal rights and take action to prevent reoccurrence.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 009 036)

Statement Upheld Residential care 19-Jun-2024

Summary: We have upheld one of Ms X’s complaints about a failure to ensure one of her husband’s medicines was re-supplied. There was also poor-record-keeping in relation to the support Mr X required at hospital appointments. Mrs X has already had an apology from the Care Home which acted on behalf of the Council. We do not uphold complaints about a failure to understand Mr X’s needs, to obtain medicine for a skin condition or about poor communication. The Care Home has already taken appropriate action to remedy the injustice.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 020 586)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 03-Jul-2024

Summary: Miss X complains on behalf of her son, Y, the Council failed to issue an EHC Plan within the statutory timescale. Miss X says this has resulted in Y being in an unsuitable setting and has caused both him and her family distress. We have found fault in the Councils actions for delaying in issuing the EHC Plan. The Council has agreed to issue an apology and make a financial payment and service improvements.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (24 000 311)

Statement Upheld Direct payments 11-Aug-2024

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council is not giving her adult son, Mr Y, sufficient support to meet his needs. She says direct payments from the Council do not cover the cost of respite care and the Council will not allow her flexibility in how she spends the payments. She says she is struggling to care for Mr Y as he gets older and wants the Council to consider individual requests to spend the money. We have found fault in the actions of the Council for failing to keep adequate records and failing to complete an investigation as promised. The Council has offered to cover the shortfall in the respite care payments in September and complete a further review. We agree these are the most suitable practical remedies for the injustice and additionally recommend the Council apologises to Mrs X, makes service improvements, and pays her a financial remedy for the distress caused.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 017 854)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 20-Aug-2024

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to arrange suitable full-time education for her child, W, after they stopped attending school, and that it took too long to find another school for W. The Council was at fault for failing to secure the special educational provision in W’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for over a year. It was also at fault for delay issuing an amended version of W’s EHC Plan and for delay seeking a new school place for W. This meant W missed out on education they were entitled to, and Mrs X experienced undue frustration, upset and stress. To remedy their injustice, the Council will apologise to Mrs X, pay her £7,825 and take action to prevent similar fault in the future.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 011 709)

Statement Upheld Charging 29-Aug-2024

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s management of her late mother’s (Mrs Y) charges for non-residential care. We identified one area of fault because the Council failed to confirm whether it intended to pursue Mrs Y’s estate for unpaid client contributions from 2019. This caused Miss X uncertainty and distress. To remedy this injustice, the Council has agreed to apologise and confirm its position about this matter in writing. We found no fault with the Council’s response to more recent unpaid invoices.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 018 375)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 03-Sep-2024

Summary: There was delay in completing an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and delay in considering whether alternative education was required. This caused uncertainty, frustration, distress and additional time and trouble. However, it is not possible to say with any certainty that Y would have accessed additional education without this delay, the suitability of education offered is a matter which is under appeal and outside the remit of the Ombudsman. The Council will apologise and make a symbolic payment for distress and uncertainty.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (23 017 786)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 16-Dec-2024

Summary: Mrs Z complains about how the Council administered her son’s (X) Education Health and Care Plan review. We uphold the complaint when comparing the Council’s assessment against the requirements of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (24 001 806)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 23-Dec-2024

Summary: Mr X complained the Council delayed finalising his child’s education, health and care plan and it provided him with misleading information. The Council acknowledges it is at fault, the delay frustrated his appeal rights and caused avoidable distress. The Council has agreed to provide Mr X a payment to reflect the avoidable distress caused.