West Sussex County Council (21 017 603)

Statement Upheld Adoption 04-Apr-2022

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to his daughter whilst she was a looked-after child. That is because the Council has agreed to consider his complaints through the Children’s Statutory Complaints procedure.

West Sussex County Council (21 010 987)

Statement Upheld Transport 19-Apr-2022

Summary: There was fault in how the Council considered a Blue Badge application. The Council had already addressed the injustice this caused to the complainant, by offering her a face-to-face mobility assessment, but it has now also agreed to review other recent decisions it has made, to determine whether other applications were affected by the same fault.

West Sussex County Council (21 008 944)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 09-May-2022

Summary: Ms C complained the Council failed to ensure her son, who has special educational needs, received an education in accord with his Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). We upheld the complaint finding the Council failed to adequately address Ms C’s repeated concerns on this point over several months. There was also unnecessary confusion and delay following a review of the EHCP. The faults caused injustice to Ms C in the form of distress, expenses and time and trouble and resulted in some loss of provision for her son. The Council accepts these findings and at the end of this statement we explain the action it has agreed to remedy this injustice.

West Sussex County Council (21 009 958)

Statement Upheld Charging 12-May-2022

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council charged her wrongly for non-residential care. The Council did not charge Mrs X correctly and in good time, or properly explain what the charges were for. This resulted in avoidable financial loss, distress, and confusion, for which the Council agreed to pay a financial remedy to Mrs X. It will also review the information it provides when arranging non-residential care.

West Sussex County Council (21 010 869)

Statement Upheld Charging 15-Jun-2022

Summary: Mrs C said the Council delayed in carrying out a financial assessment of her contributions towards her adult social care. The Council was at fault for delay. This caused Mrs C injustice in that she faced stress and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs C a sum in recognition of this injustice.

West Sussex County Council (21 000 584)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 19-Jun-2022

Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to put in place adequate education for a child when he was out of school. The Council was also at fault for failing to put in place the provision listed in the child’s Education, Health and Care plan. As a result the child has fallen behind his peers. The Council agreed to apologise and make a payment for the benefit of the child’s education.

West Sussex County Council (21 012 375)

Statement Upheld Residential care 17-Jul-2022

Summary: Mrs X complained, on behalf of her mother Mrs Y, about the poor standard of care provided to Mrs Y by a Care Home. We found the Council at fault. We recommended it apologise to Mrs X and Mrs Y, pay Mrs X £500 for distress, pay Mrs Y £700 for distress, and act to prevent recurrence.

West Sussex County Council (21 012 744)

Statement Upheld Other 17-Aug-2022

Summary: We found no fault by the Council and Integrated Care Board in terms of the Section 117 aftercare they provided to Mrs Y. However, we found the Council, Trust and ICB delayed significantly in carrying out a Section 117 review. They will apologise and pay Mr X a financial remedy in recognition of the distress and frustration this caused. The Council, Trust and ICB will also review their policies and procedures to prevent similar problems occurring in future.

West Sussex County Council (21 018 292)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 19-Sep-2022

Summary: Mrs J complains on behalf of son (Child A) who has special educational needs. She says the Council unlawfully refused to assess him for an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP). Further, Mrs J complains that once the Council eventually did so, the assessment process was flawed, delayed and led to an unsuitable EHCP being maintained for Child A. Mrs J also complains the Council is failing to provide her son with a suitable education and is not meeting his EHCP provision following him no longer attending his educational setting. We found the Council delayed in issuing Child A with an EHCP which meant the support he needed was also delayed. Further, we found significant delays in the Council’s complaint handling responses to Mrs J. We do not have the legal jurisdiction to investigate any other matters because these are waiting to be heard in tribunal proceedings. That said, the fault identified in this statement has caused a serious injustice to Mrs J and Child A. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy this.

West Sussex County Council (20 008 504)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 09-Oct-2022

Summary: The Council failed to advise a parent that under Section 19 Education Act councils must provide suitable alternative education when a child is unable to attend school for health reasons, or otherwise. This led a parent to make their own private tuition arrangements when their child could not attend school, in the belief no funding or support was available from the Council. This caused distress, a financial burden and the child missed out on education because a full curriculum was not in place. The Council will apologise, refund costs and make service improvements.