Case Ref: 25 003 045 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Disabled facilities grants

• Remind relevant officers of the Council’s duties under the Armed Forces Covenant.

Case Ref: 25 001 384 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to provide an update on its progress in meeting Objective 7 of its Priority Action and Improvement Plan. This objective aimed to bring performance in issuing final EHC Plans within 20 weeks, in line with national expectations, by September 2025. The Council will update us on if it has met this target. If not, it should provide a new action plan.

Case Ref: 24 019 227 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind all relevant officers that personal budgets for Education Health and Care (EHC) Plans must be reviewed and agreed during the annual review process. Any agreed personal budget must also be included and outlined in Section J of the EHC Plan.

Case Ref: 24 018 382 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Friends and family carers

• The Council will remind all relevant officers that if it is involved in the arrangements for a child to be cared for by a private family arrangement, that it ensures all parties are aware of the nature of the arrangement and where financial support may come from. It should also ensure proper records are made of this explanation and discussions, so it is not in dispute. This will allow the carer to make an informed decision about whether to accept a child on a private arrangement.

Case Ref: 24 018 288 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• The Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant care home staff to ensure they are aware of what they should do and how to escalate matters if a resident consistently refuses to eat and drink.
• The Council has agreed to issue written reminders to relevant officers to ensure they complete safeguarding investigations without unreasonable delay and provide regular updates to the person who has reported the safeguarding concern.

Case Ref: 24 017 940 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• • share a copy of this decision with Council staff dealing with statutory complaints procedure. Ensure learning from this decision is shared appropriately and ensure individual cases/complaints are properly investigated under the statutory complaints procedure
• • remind relevant staff of the need to complete ‘Child in Need’ assessments within the 45 working days from the date of the referral request in line with statutory timescales
• • by training or other means, remind relevant staff of the importance of completing agreed recommendations set out in ‘Child in Need’ plans in a timely manner and within agreed timescales.

Case Ref: 24 017 247 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• Remind relevant staff of the importance of:i.enabling Investigating Officers to interview all relevant professionals, in line with statutory guidance;ii.providing clear and timely communication during assessments, including sharing key documents; andiii.issuing written updates and revised timescales where complaints investigations are delayed.

Case Ref: 24 016 358 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Direct payments

• The Council agreed to carry out three briefings to staff covering assessments of care needs, care and support planning and administration of direct payments. These would aim to share learning from this complaint on the importance of keeping a clear audit trail of decisions where the Council proposes cutting a care package; involving the users of services in deciding what care services they want and decisions around direct payments; as well as when and how it might end a direct payment. In this case the Council had been at fault in all three areas, not explaining why it proposed cutting a care package, and stopping direct payments contrary to the complainant's wishes and without adequate justification.
• The Council also agreed to review it current arrangements for responding to adult social care complaints to ensure they were consistent with the expectations we publish, including where it contracts care to private care providers. This was after it failed to keep oversight of a complaint about a care provider, and unnecessarily prolonged correspondence with the complainant.

Case Ref: 24 016 124 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council will provide evidence of the completion of the review of staff neurodivergent training and staff awareness on the General Data Protection Regulation.
• The Council will remind staff of the importance of keeping to complaint handling timeframes.

Case Ref: 24 015 692 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• Within three months of the final decision the Council should:• Carry out service improvements to ensure that complaints are fully responded to;• Review how the Council can improve communication where the Council sends out multiple charging letters on the same day or close together, it will also tell people of the final amount to pay.