Service improvements

Suffolk County 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 11 - 20 of 20 cases with service improvements

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Downloads the current filtered list of service improvement decisions for Suffolk County Council as a CSV file.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 012 188)

    Category: Education Date: 03-Sep-2021

    Summary

    Ms X complains about the way the Council managed her son’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan and transition to adulthood. The Council made decisions too late, outside the EHC process, and without involving the family or other services. This was fault and caused significant distress and inconvenience to the whole family. Recommendations for an apology, financial payment and service improvements are made. The complaint is upheld.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes for Education Health and Care Plans to ensure post-16 transitions are properly planned and appeal rights are provided in a timely way.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 011 599)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Oct-2021

    Summary

    The Council failed to ensure some of the support in Miss Y’s Education Health and Care plan was provided between November 2019 and February 2020. In addition, there were failings in the annual review process and the issuing of an amended plan for Miss Y in 2020. The Council should apologise and pay Miss Y £500 and Mrs X £250 for the injustice caused. It should also review its processes.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its processes to ensure it checks with education settings whether support has been put in place after issuing final Education Health and Care plans, including amended plans.The Council will remind staff that it remains responsible for the actions of educational settings arranging annual reviews on its behalf, and that staff should make appropriate enquiries where it receives complaints about the process to ensure that legal requirements are satisfied.The Council will review its process to ensure that if an educational setting raises concerns about its ability to provide the support set out in a draft Education Health and Care plan, it addresses those concerns and amends the support if needed, before issuing the final plan and naming the setting.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 009 662)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Mar-2022

    Summary

    Mr and Mrs X complained about matters relating to their son’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We found the Council failed to provide support required by the child’s plan and we also found fault with the Council’s record keeping. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to improve its record-keeping.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 009 660)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Feb-2022

    Summary

    the Council failed to follow the code of guidance when reviewing Mrs B’s daughter’s education, health and care plan, failed to ensure the school made all the provision available in the plan, delayed naming a secondary school, failed to put in place alternative education provision and failed to communicate effectively with Mrs B. Changes to procedures already agreed by the Council along with an apology and payment to Mrs B is a satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    Within two months of my decision the Council should provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the changes it has put into place to reflect the remedy it offered for the complaint

  • Suffolk County Council (20 008 503)

    Category: Education Date: 30-Jul-2021

    Summary

    Mrs B complained that the Council failed to provide suitable alternative education for her daughter C when she was unable to attend school due to anxiety. We found the Council failed to provide C with suitable alternative education, between October 2019 and March 2020. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs B, pay her £2000 to remedy the impact on C and a further £300 for Mrs B’s time and trouble in pursuing the matter. It has also agreed to review its policy, provide training and check alternative provision for other children in similar circumstances.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to (within three months): ensure it has a policy in place for providingalternative education to children out of school, which complies with section 19of the Education Act 1996; provide training and/or guidance to all relevant staffon its policy; and review the educational provision in place for childrenof compulsory school age who are on the roll but have not attended school formore than 15 school days and where alternative provision is not being supplied,to ensure there is an assessment of their educational needs and how these needsare being met.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 008 176)

    Category: Adult care services Date: 12-Jan-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complains the Council delayed in completing a financial assessment in respect of her mothers’ contribution towards the cost of her residential care. As a result, Mrs Y continued to pay private fees for longer than necessary. We have found the Council to be at fault. To remedy the injustice caused the Council has agreed to apologise, refund the overpaid fees and make a payment to recognise the distress and time and trouble caused to Mrs X.

    Service improvements

    The Council will also remind staff of the importance of completing a financial assessment in a timely manner.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 007 318)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 12-Aug-2021

    Summary

    There is no fault in how the Council assessed and reported on the child protection concerns about Miss X’s children. There is some fault in the Council’s failure to consider whether Miss X needed any reasonable adjustments. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £200.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to consider how best to ensure all staff have regard to the Council's duty to make reasonable adjustments. This might include a prompt or question in the assessment template about disability and reasonable adjustmentsand/or information in the assessment guidance to parents and carers about reasonable adjustments or advocacy

  • Suffolk County Council (20 003 486)

    Category: Education Date: 14-Jun-2021

    Summary

    The Council failed to provide J with suitable full-time education and delayed making the specialist provision set out in his Education, Health and Care plan when his school placement ended. The Council also failed to follow the statutory guidance when it refused Mr and Mrs B’s request for a personal budget. We have recommended and the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment and take action to prevent similar failings in future.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its procedures for dealing with requests for personal budgets and direct payments to ensure it accords with the statutory guidance and that is properly explains its reasons for its decisions.

  • Suffolk County Council (20 000 747)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Dec-2021

    Summary

    Mrs Y complained the Council failed to provide her son with suitable education. The Ombudsman has found fault by the Council, causing injustice. The Council has agreed to remedy this by apologising, making payments to acknowledge the impact of the loss of education and time and trouble caused to Mrs Y, and a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    Review its procedures for the provision of GCSE learning to pupils unable to attend school or engage with tutors.

  • Suffolk County Council (19 019 593)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Nov-2021

    Summary

    Mr and Mrs B complain that the Council failed to arrange suitable education for their son, C, so he did not receive the provision in his EHCP. The Ombudsman has found that the Council failed to take appropriate steps to ensure that C received alternative provision while out of school or to facilitate his attendance at school. The Council has agreed to pay Mr and Mrs B £5,400 for C’s benefit for the loss of two years of his education, £1,000 in recognition of the distress and social isolation that this has caused C, and £500 for the distress caused to Mr and Mrs B. The Council will also carry out an audit of children for whom it has a statutory duty to provide suitable full-time education under s.19 Education Act 1996.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to carry out an audit of children for whom it has a statutory duty to provide suitable full-time education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to ensure that: children are receiving full-time education on a par with their peers, and any provision due in their Education and Health Care Plan; provision is not being withheld or restricted due to resources or commissioning gaps; where a child is receiving less than full-time education, there is medical evidence to support that this is the maximum amount of education they can access and that this is regularly reviewed.The Council has agreed to review its complaint procedures to ensure that, as part of that process, it considers whether a remedy should be provided for any injustice and what other steps may be necessary to resolve the matter complained about.

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