Service improvements

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022

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 St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council as a CSV file.

  • St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (21 002 189)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 18-Jan-2022

    Summary

    St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council properly took the action it agreed to as a result of its findings when it completed its consideration of Ms B’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. However, it should offer a higher payment to recognise the impact of those faults on Ms B.

    Service improvements

    The stage 3 complaints panel recommended that the social workers should be reminded of the significance of domestic violence and the effect it has on families. The Council will provide evidence that it acted on this recommendation.

  • St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (21 001 142)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 04-Oct-2021

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council which commissioned the late Mrs Y’s care in a care home. The fault included failings in nutritional care and in infection control measures during an outbreak of COVID-19. There were also serious failings in complaint handling. To put matters right, the Council will apologise, make Mrs X a symbolic payment, carry out a quality monitoring visit and review its complaint handling procedures.

    Service improvements

    The Council will carry out a quality monitoring visit and review its complaint handling procedures.

  • St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (20 006 785)

    Category: Education Date: 21-Sep-2021

    Summary

    Ms B complained the Council failed to meet her reasonable adjustments when it corresponded with her about her son’s special educational needs. She said the failure to do so meant she was unable to appeal against a decision not to issue an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She said the faults in the assessment of her son meant he attended a school that did not meet his needs and there was no means of requiring the school to do so as there was no EHCP in place. She also complained about the way the Council responded to her concerns. She said the Council’s failings meant she had to educate her son at home and it caused her and him distress. There was fault by the Council but it did not cause significant injustice to Ms B.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure it makes any agreed reasonable adjustments and that an adequate record is kept.

  • St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (20 005 971)

    Category: Other Categories Date: 30-Sep-2021

    Summary

    Mr S complains about the way the Council administered the tendering process for a contract his company bid for. He complains about the notification of the interview date, the way the Council’s panel handled the interview and presentation, and the Council’s responses to his request for feedback and a complaint. We uphold the complaint, because of some inadequate record keeping, which does not meet the expectations of either procurement policy or the Ombudsman’s principles of good administrative practice. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide an update on its progress on the work it advised it was undertaking on: a) the feedback procedure and; b) its Contract Procedure Rules processes and practices. And advise how it will include learning from this complaint in its reviews. The Council should consider some changes around: a) better records of decisions, including moderation and checking conflict of interests; b) more comprehensive feedback.

  • St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (20 004 737)

    Category: Planning Date: 20-Aug-2021

    Summary

    Ms F complains the Council did not properly consider the impact on her home when it granted planning permission to a neighbour’s extension. We found there was fault in the planning officer’s report, but this did not cause injustice to Ms F. The Council delayed dealing with Ms F’s complaint. It has agreed to make a payment to acknowledge the time and trouble this caused her and make improvements to its service.

    Service improvements

    •Put a system in place to ensure: 1.Acknowledgements are sent promptly when complaint correspondence is received. 2.Complaint correspondence is correctly filed. 3.Complainants are kept informed of any delays in the investigation of their complaints. •Send evidence to the Ombudsman of the actions it has taken.

  • St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (20 003 185)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Oct-2021

    Summary

    There was fault by the Council in failing to secure suitable full-time education including provision in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan and during COVID-19. There was also delays in the EHC process and a flawed complaint investigation. This has led to a loss of education and caused the family unnecessary time, trouble and distress. The complaint is upheld.

    Service improvements

    The Council will carry out a review to learn lessons from this case and provide a report to the Ombudsman about the findings and the actions the Council will take to prevent a recurrence of the same fault.

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