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 1 - 10 of 13 cases with service improvements

Export results (CSV)

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

  • Suffolk County Council (25 014 046)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 28-Jul-2026

    Summary

    The Council was at fault. It failed to escalate and investigate Ms X’s complaint under the statutory complaints procedure causing her frustration. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, make a payment and investigate her complaint under the statutory complaints procedure starting at stage two. The Council also agreed to make a service improvement.

    Service improvements

    The Council have agreed to remind complaint handling staff, through training or a briefing, to progress complaints under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 using the statutory children's complaints procedure and to escalate complaints to stage two where a complainant remains dissatisfied with the stage one response.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 018 382)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 25-Nov-2025

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the way the Council dealt with payments for the care of her granddaughter, Y. The Council was at fault for failing to recognise its duty to accommodate Y and make payments to Mr and Mrs X. This caused Mr and Mrs X distress and frustration. The Council has agreed to apologise, backdate payments, make a payment to recognise the injustice caused and make service improvements.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 017 940)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 25-Sep-2025

    Summary

    Mr G complained about the Council’s delays with completing his child’s, Y, Child in Need assessment and its refusal to consider his complaint under stage 2 and stage 3 of the statutory complaints procedure. There was fault by the Council for its delays in completing a Child in Need assessment for Y, but this caused no significant injustice to Y and Mr G. The Council was also at fault for its failure to complete all the Child in Need recommendations in a timely manner and its failure to properly consider Mr G’s complaint under the statutory complaints procedure which caused injustice to Y and Mr G. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    • 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.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 017 247)

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

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council failed to act on safeguarding concerns, delayed providing support for his disabled son, and restricted the investigation of his concerns. The Council was at fault in how it responded to safeguarding concerns, delayed support under a Child in Need assessment, and handled both the complaints process and the Stage 2 investigation. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • Suffolk County Council (24 016 124)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 06-Jan-2026

    Summary

    Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with the care of his daughter, Ms Y. The Council was at fault for completing a flawed stage two investigation, delaying in completing the complaint procedure, poor communication and failing to explain its reasons for rejecting the panel’s findings. This caused Mr X distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mr X and fully explain its decisions.

    Service improvements

    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.

  • 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 (24 008 929)

    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 (23 015 464)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 28-Nov-2024

    Summary

    the Council failed to explain the reasons for the delay completing a section 17 assessment, failed to carry out that assessment properly, failed to explain why it did not consider Mrs B’s son qualified for a level 5 Activities Unlimited award, delayed dealing with Mrs B’s complaint and failed to keep her up-to-date. The remedy the Council has already offered, alongside some procedural recommendations, is satisfactory.

    Service improvements

    The Council will consider putting in place a procedure to ensure tribunal recommendations are followed up on so similar problems do not occur in future.The Council will remind those investigating complaints at stage two of: a)the need to ensure the person complaining is happy with any complaints which have been reworded and understand how that will affect the investigation;b)the need to ensure investigating officers are clear with complainants where parts of the complaint are matters the Council cannot reach a firm conclusion on.

  • Suffolk County Council (22 016 913)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 10-Oct-2023

    Summary

    There was no fault the Council was intending to close down the support it was providing to Mr X’s family. There was fault that it closed it prematurely because of its poor communication. There was also fault the Council did not share the updated assessments on the support it was providing with Mr X. The Council accepted these faults and have offered Mr X a sufficient personal remedy for this injustice. It has also agreed to take additional steps to improve how it communicates with service users to prevent a reoccurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council was at fault because it was not able to show how it openly discussed and took into account the complainants views and agreed a support plan while it was providing him with support as a parent of adopted children. The recommendation is to remind all staff of the importance of sharing assessments to ensure it obtains adoptive parent’s views on support.

  • Suffolk County Council (22 007 108)

    Category: Children's care services Date: 25-May-2023

    Summary

    Miss F complained the Council has failed to provide adequate respite provision for her son who is a child in need. She also says the Council significantly delayed responding to her complaint and it has failed to provide an appropriate remedy for her and her son’s injustice. We find fault with how the Council dealt with the respite provision and for its delays in responding to Miss F’s complaint. The Council apologised to Miss F and offered her a suitable financial remedy. This is a sufficient for her and her son’s personal injustice. The Council agreed to implement service improvements when it considered Miss F’s complaint, which it has agreed to evidence. It has also agreed to our further recommendation to make another service improvement to address the significant delays during the statutory complaints procedure.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review the operation of its statutory complaints procedure to identify where it can make changes to prevent delays.The Council will provide us with evidence it has reviewed its link family provision.

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings