Service improvements

Suffolk County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2027

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 21 - 30 of 108 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 (24 013 508)

    Category: Education Date: 29-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Ms C complains the Council failed to follow the correct transfer procedures when X moved into the area with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Ms C also complains the Council failed to provide the education set out in the EHC Plan. The Council failed to provide X with education it had a duty to provide and in the transfer of the EHC Plan. This caused X to miss education. To remedy the complaint the Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment and service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will:-a) provide a copy of the new policy about how the Council deals with children and young people who enter the Council with an EHC Plan;b) remind staff and provide training by way of staff circular, team meeting, supervision, or sessions so relevant staff are aware of the new policy and its implications;c) remind staff and provide training by way of staff circular, team meeting, supervision, or sessions about who should be invited to EHC Plan reviews and what steps to take when engagement from parents frustrates the review process.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 011 718)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 21-May-2025

    Summary

    Mr and Mrs X complained the Council failed to consider their human rights and the fostering services national minimum standards during the Local Authority Designated Officer process. They also say the Council did not give them an opportunity to respond to the allegations against them until it concluded the process. We find the Council was at fault for failing to follow its guidance and tell Mr and Mrs X about the allegations before it concluded the process. This caused Mr and Mrs X distress, upset and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to apologise to Mr and Mrs X, make a payment to them and implement service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind relevant staff that during the Local Authority Designated Officer process they must ensure they provide foster carers with an opportunity to respond to any allegations against them before the investigation is concluded.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 011 338)

    Category: Education Date: 25-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained of significant delay in the Council’s assessment of her child for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She also complained the Council did not provide her child with a suitable education. The Council is at fault for failing to meet statutory timescales and failing to provide a suitable education. It has agreed to remedy the injustice caused by making a payment to Ms X for the loss of education and avoidable distress. The Council has also agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will ensure it has a handover process between caseworkers and it will remind staff to complete this handover process when there is a change in caseworker for children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 011 165)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Ms X complained that the Council failed to provide Speech and Language provision as outlined in her child’s education, health and care (EHC) Plan. The Council is at fault for failing to provide the provision and it failed to meet statutory timeframes in issuing a final EHC Plan following an annual review. This has caused a loss of provision and avoidable distress. The Council has offered a suitable remedy for the loss of provision and it has agreed to remedy the avoidable distress caused by the delay in finalising the EHC Plan. The Council has also agreed to make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review what went wrong in this case and identify what actions it can take to reduce delay in decisions by its Panel and ensure provision outlined in an Education, Health and Care Plan continues to be delivered when a reassessment of need is taking place. The outcome of the review and the steps to be put in place to prevent a recurrence will be provided to the Ombudsman.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 010 672)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Jun-2025

    Summary

    The Council failed to arrange the transitional support that Ms X’s child, G, needed when they started school. The Council also failed to communicate with Ms X properly, delayed consulting alternative schools and delayed issuing G’s Education Health and Care Plan. The Council’s faults caused G to miss out on a term of transitional support and caused Ms X and G frustration and uncertainty. To recognise the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, pay Ms X £800 and take action to improve its services.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to remind staff in its special educational needs and disability (SEND) team and its complaint handling teams that the Council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F of an Education, Health and Care Plan and this duty is non-delegable. The Council should not inform parents or carers that this is the responsibility of the school.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 008 929)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 16-Apr-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complains that the Council failed to provide any support for her wellbeing when it carried out a parent carer needs assessment. The Council was at fault as it failed to consider Mrs X’s circumstances and fettered its discretion when refusing to provide financial support to meet Mrs X’s eligible outcomes. This fault caused distress and uncertainty to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice to Mrs X by apologising and considering again what support it can offer Mrs X to meet her eligible outcomes as a result of caring for two of her children.

    Service improvements

    Review its approach or policy to providing support to meet the eligible outcomes of parent carers to ensure officers consider individual circumstances when deciding what support can be offered. This is to ensure the Council does not fetter its discretion when considering what support should be offered to meet eligible outcomes

  • Suffolk County Council (24 008 195)

    Category: Education Date: 01-Jun-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about how the Council handled her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan process. We have found fault with the Council for failing to meet statutory timescales which delayed Mrs X’s right of appeal and caused Mrs X and her son distress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice.

    Service improvements

    Provide evidence of the staff training that has taken place to improve record keeping to prevent delays when case workers change roles.Arrange a transition review with Mrs X and Y to include representatives from family services and adult community services to discuss Y’s future plans;

  • Suffolk County Council (24 011 007)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Mrs B complained that the Council had failed to provide Occupational Therapy support in accordance with her son C’s Education, Health and Care Plan since November 2023. We found the Council’s inability to find appropriate provision until January 2025 was service failure which caused injustice to both C and Mrs B. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs B, pay her £1650 and has provided us with information about the steps it is taking to improve the supply of Occupational Therapists.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to send me details of how many others are affected by the difficulty in sourcing OT support and the steps the Council is taking to improve the supply of available therapists

  • Suffolk County Council (24 008 941)

    Category: Education Date: 27-Mar-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained that the Council failed to make education provision for her son Y when he was unable to attend school. The Council was at fault as it delayed in making education provision for Y and did not ensure he received some provision in his Education, Health and Care Plan. As a result, Y missed education provision for two terms and the fault caused distress to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to remedy this injustice by apologising to Mrs X and Y, making a symbolic payment of £1800 to Y and a symbolic payment of £300 to Mrs X.

    Service improvements

    By training or other means, remind officers of the Council’s approach to supporting young people outside compulsory school age to maintain their placement in the event they are struggling to attend. The Council should also remind officers that they should promptly explore what support should be offered when they are first notified of a young person struggling to attend their placement. This is to ensure the delays identified in this complaint do not recur.By training or other means, remind officers responsible for dealing with requests for stage two complaints that they should be satisfied the stage one response has adequately addressed the complaint when considering whether to investigate the complaint at stage two.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 002 727)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Feb-2025

    Summary

    Mrs B says the Council failed to put in place speech and language therapy and other provision in her daughter’s education, health and care plan, failed to amend her daughter’s plan as agreed and delayed completing an annual review. The Council failed to put in place some provision in Mrs B’s daughter’s EHC Plan, delayed completing an annual review and delayed issuing a new EHC Plan following the annual review. That means Mrs B’s daughter missed out on some provision and Mrs B experienced distress. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mrs B, put in place the missing provision and provide the Ombudsman with its action plan for managing annual reviews.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the action plan it has in place to address how it will meet statutory timescales for annual reviews.

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