Service improvements

Surrey 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 1 - 5 of 5 cases with service improvements

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

  • Surrey County Council (21 011 993)

    Category: Education Date: 31-Mar-2022

    Summary

    Ms X complains about the Council’s decision to decline to provide home to school transport for her child. She says her child has not been able to attend school due to the lack of transport. We find fault with the Council for not properly considering whether the cost of Ms X’s preferred school was incompatible with the efficient use of resources. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review itsHome to School Travel and Transport policy to ensure it provides clear information about: the tests it must apply when deciding whether to pay for transport/provide travel assistance; and where the Council decides the parental choice school is incompatible with the efficient use of resources, it will name both schools in the EHC plan along with the condition that the parent will pay for the transport costs tothe preferred school.The Council will review all transport appeal decisions, issued within the past 12 months, to check whetherthe same fault has occurred in other cases. If the Council identifies cases with the same fault, the Council should take appropriate steps to remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified. The Council will provide details tothe Ombudsman outlining the cases it has identified and a brief outline of the remedy provided.

  • Surrey County Council (21 008 922)

    Category: Education Date: 28-Mar-2022

    Summary

    Mrs X complained the Council delayed making changes to her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) causing distress, putting her to time and trouble and resulting in her son missing the start of school. We found the Council at fault in its review of Y’s EHCP. We recommended it provided Mrs X with an apology, payment for distress, payment for time and trouble and act to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will provide training or guidance to all staff who handle reviews of Education, Health and Care Plans to ensure they are aware of the need to meet timescales, avoid undue delay and decide on the parent’s preferred setting in line with the statutory guidance.

  • Surrey County Council (21 001 012)

    Category: Education Date: 15-Dec-2021

    Summary

    Miss X complained the Council delayed naming School A in her daughter’s Education, Health and Care plan resulting in unfair treatment and missed provision. We did not investigate the Council’s decision to name a type of school on the EHCP because Miss X had the right to appeal. However, we found the Council at fault because it did not address Miss X’s concerns of missed provision. We recommend the Council provide an apology, payment for distress and take action to prevent recurrence.

    Service improvements

    The Council will identify why it cannot provide records of contacts with a complainant and if appropriate, take action to prevent recurrence. It will inform the Ombudsman of the outcome and any action taken.The Council will provide training or guidance to the officers that liaised with the complainant, to ensure they understand the Council’s duty to secure Education, Health and Care Plan provision and to act when made aware this is not being met.

  • Surrey County Council (19 018 864)

    Category: Education Date: 23-Feb-2022

    Summary

    Mrs D complained about the actions the Council took in respect of her son, B’s, special educational needs after he was out of school from March 2019. She also complained that the Council delayed excessively in dealing with her complaint about the matter. We found some fault in the Council’s actions. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs D a total of £900 and improve its procedures for the future.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed to provide us with evidence it has reviewed or is reviewing its consultation process and to take steps to ensure it completes reviews of EHCPs within the timescales laid down in statutory guidance.

  • Surrey County Council (19 012 447)

    Category: Education Date: 06-Dec-2021

    Summary

    Mrs C complains about the Council’s delay in meeting her son’s special educational needs, including a delay in carrying out an EHC assessment. She also complains the Council delayed providing suitable education when her son was not medically fit to attend school. The Ombudsman view is that large parts of Mrs C’s complaint is outside our jurisdiction, partly because Mrs C has used her right of appeal. But the Ombudsman has found fault with some of the complaint we have considered – in particular a failure to provide Mrs C’s son with alternative education.

    Service improvements

    The Council says it should have earlier referred the case to its legal team. As well as that insight, my view is another lesson from this complaint is the importance of always keeping in mind what is in the best interests of the child – my view is officers lost sight of this in their actions over alternative education for D. So the Council has agreed to send a reminder to all relevant staff of these learning points from this complaint.

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