The Council will arrange refresher training for relevant officers in relation to the Council’s section 19 duty.The Council will establish clear communication protocols and joint operating procedures among relevant departments to clarify roles and responsibilities.The Council will assign dedicated contact points for service users to facilitate effective communication and follow-up.

The Council will share with the Ombudsman an update on its communications plan/protocol and how learning from this complaint can feed into that plan, including around a process for ensuring parents and young people are promptly advised about staff changes and how communication is not impacted due to staff absence.The Council will remind its staff the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations do require a review (including a meeting) within the 12 months before a child moves between phases of education.

The Head of the Special Educational Needs Department (SEND) and Adult Social Care Department (ASC) should meet to discuss our findings in this case and to review the Council’s documented procedures. The Council should write to us to set out any changes in procedures or additional training that are required to avoid a repetition of the issues we have identified. The Council should also then communicate the correct process to all relevant staff to ensure clarity in such cases in future and provide evidence it has done this.

The Council will ensure it has a process in place for the team who assess Education, Health and Care needs assessment requests to ensure that cases are raised for review by the Surrey Attendance Service, as soon as possible when evidence suggests a child is not attending school, who will ensure advice is given to schools regarding referral processes and evidence required for LA section 19 consideration.