Service improvements

Suffolk County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025

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 - 14 of 14 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 (23 019 255)

    Category: Education Date: 11-Nov-2024

    Summary

    Mrs B complained that the Council failed to provide transport for her son, C to attend his educational provisions for almost a year. We found the Council, failed to provide transport, delayed excessively in reaching a decision on C’s eligibility for transport and also in offering Mrs B a personal travel budget. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs B, pay her £500 and improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to review its transport procedures to ensure (as far as is practical) arrangements are in place for transport by the start of the school year, including cases involving children with an EHC Plan and that the Council is clear in its decisions regarding exceptional circumstances and accompaniment.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 019 006)

    Category: Education Date: 02-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Mrs B complained the Council failed to comply with the statutory timeframes for completing an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child, X. Mrs B says this has impacted X’s access to education. We have found the Council at fault. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy to Mrs B and X and complete service improvements to remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its procedure for considering and recording section 19 decisions to ensure it is correctly and accurately recording all section 19 decisions.The Council will circulate guidance to its Special Educational Needs and inclusion officers about the Council's duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to consider alternative provision from the point it becomes aware a child is out of school and record its decision making on this.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 014 605)

    Category: Education Date: 04-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Mr X complained the Council wrongly asked him for a contribution to his son’s post-16 school transport. There was fault with how the Council took too long to issue a final EHC plan for Y and how it decided whether to charge a contribution towards Y’s school transport costs. It agreed to review its decision, apologise for the distress caused to Mr X and Y, and pay them a financial remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to review how it makes decisions under its school transport policy for young people with an EHC plan. It should ensure it considers whether applicants are likely to receive free transport as an adult and, if so, whether it is still appropriate to charge a contribution, considering the statutory guidance.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 013 678)

    Category: Education Date: 10-Sep-2024

    Summary

    Ms M complains the Council has not arranged the specialist occupational therapy in her daughter G’s December 2021 Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, and has not reviewed the Plan. The Council offered payments for the missed provision and recognises the need to review the Plan. The Council has contacted a therapist identified by Ms M to arrange the provision.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its procedures for annual reviews to ensure they comply with all relevant legislation, regulations and government guidance.

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