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 68 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 (23 019 930)

    Category: Education Date: 05-Nov-2024

    Summary

    the Council delayed putting in place education for Miss B’s daughter, failed to put in place sufficient education, failed to put in place some of the provision in her daughter’s education, health and care plan and delayed completing the annual review for that plan. An apology, allocation of a budget to be used for Miss B’s daughter’s benefit, payment to Miss B and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will remind officers about the need to keep the number of hours of tuition in place for children receiving only part-time hours under review.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 019 811)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Nov-2024

    Summary

    The Council took too long to issue a final Education Health and Care Plan. It also failed to properly consider whether it should make alternative educational provision when Miss B’s child could not attend school. This caused Miss B distress and meant that her child missed out on education. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the impact on Miss B and her child.

    Service improvements

    Share this decision with relevant staff

  • 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.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 006 191)

    Category: Education Date: 20-Dec-2023

    Summary

    Mrs B complained about excessive delay by the Council in issuing a final EHC plan for her son C following a needs assessment and in producing an amended EHC plan following an annual review. It also failed to properly investigate the matter when responding to Mrs B’s complaint. We have found fault causing injustice to Mrs B and C. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs B £500 for herself, and £1250 for the benefit of C’s education, in addition to completing the annual review process. The Council has also agreed to improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to proivde an update with its progress in improving its adherence to statutory times scales both in issuing EHC plans following a needs assessment and completing the Annual Review process and provides details of ongoing actions to secure improvements in these areas.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 005 964)

    Category: Education Date: 09-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Ms X complained the Council failed to properly review her child P’s Education, Health, and Care plan, or ensure they received a suitable education and support for their special educational needs. There was fault by the Council which meant P did not receive suitable education or support for their special educational needs. It also caused avoidable distress and uncertainty to P and Ms X, and lost opportunity for P. The Council agreed to apologise, re-assess P’s Education, Health, and Care needs, consider whether suitable education is in place for P, and pay a financial remedy. It will also review relevant procedures, issue reminders to its staff, and ensure our findings are considered as part of its SEND Improvement Strategy.

    Service improvements

    The Council agreed to issue reminders to all staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service that:when a child with an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan moves from a different council's area, the Council must let the family know within 6 weeks of transfer whether it will carry out an EHC needs assessment, or when it will review the plan. It also must review the plan within 3 months, or within 12 months of the previous review by the old council, whichever is later; andany final EHC plan issued must be shared with the family, along with their rights to appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (SEND).The Council agreed to review its processes and procedures, and issue reminders to relevant staff, to ensure that where it is aware a child is being educated part-time, it keeps the suitability of this arrangement under regular review.The Council agreed to ensure a copy of our final decision is considered as part of its ongoing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Improvement Strategy, following its Independent SEND Review. The Council commissioned this independent review in 2021 to address issues with its SEND services and is monitoring progress against the actions it identified.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 005 229)

    Category: Education Date: 08-Feb-2024

    Summary

    Mrs B says the Council failed to put in place education for her son, failed to identify a suitable school placement and failed to put in place provision in her son’s education, health and care plan. Part of the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. For that part within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction there is evidence of failure to put in place sufficient education for Mrs B’s son, delay identifying a school placement and delay putting in place special educational needs provision. An apology, payment to Mrs B and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send a memo to officers in education to make clear when a child receives alternative provision the Council keeps the number of hours provided under review. That memo should also remind officers of the need to ensure prompt consultations with schools take place when a child is out of education, the requirement to put in place provision by day 6 and that it sends consultations to multiple schools at the same time rather than sending out individual consultations.The Council will provide evidence to the Ombudsman it has in place a process to identify alternative speech and language therapists or occupational therapists when a shortage is preventing provision in a child's EHCP being put into place.

  • Suffolk County Council (23 002 813)

    Category: Education Date: 26-Jan-2024

    Summary

    Mrs X complained about the Council’s consideration of her request for an Education Health and Care plan (EHC plan). She also complained the Council failed to provide her son with a full-time education while he was out of school. We found there was significant delay in issuing an EHC plan and Y did not receive a full-time education. We recommended an apology, and payments to recognise the impact of the fault we found.

    Service improvements

    The Council should remind its staff that the In Year Fair Access Protocol does not exclude pupils who are undergoing an EHC Needs Assessment, only those who have EHC plans naming a school.

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