Case Ref: 20 006 020 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• Reviews its procedures for carrying out child and families assessments/child protection enquiries to ensure officers are even handed, consider counter allegations and all relevant evidence.
• Reviews its complaints procedures to ensure officers consider if there is an underlying complaint which can be considered through its complaints procedure.

Case Ref: 20 002 144 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review its training and processes to ensure social care needs are always considered as part of an Education, Health and Care needs assessment, including whether parent carers have a need for support.

Case Ref: 19 020 776 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review its training and procedures for education, health and care assessments to ensure robust and timely decision making and that health partners are properly consulted.
• The Council will review its training and procedures for children missing education to ensure the Council fulfils its duty to provide alternative education under s.19 Education Act 1996 where appropriate and review its medical tuition policy to clarify what should happen when consultant advice is not available.

Case Ref: 19 018 864 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 19 012 447 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• 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.

Case Ref: 19 009 228 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to review its procedures and train its staff on adopting statements of special educational need/education health and care plans for children and young adults who move from one local authority area to another. It has agreed to ensure its processes and the training delivered to staff will be in accordance with the relevant statutory guidance.

Case Ref: 20 004 154 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council should review how it monitors that reviews of eligible care needs are carried out every year.
• The Council should remind workers of their responsibilities when carrying out care assessments and recording information and provide training on information recording.
• The Council should review how staff manage case transfers and handovers, and how it communicates with service users when they do not have an assigned social worker.

Case Ref: 19 016 746 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council will remind relevant staff of the timescales required in its safeguarding procedures for sending out minutes of Core Group meetings.

Case Ref: 19 015 628 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council should take action to ensure it routinely enters into a written agreement with any care provider at the start of a placement.
• The Council should take action to ensure it routinely informs service users how it will deal with price increases before entering into a contract with a care provider.

Case Ref: 19 013 687 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council has agreed to remind staff to ensure needs assessments are not delayed and care needs continue to be met while awaiting Continuing Health Care decisions.