Service improvements

West Sussex County Council

Showing service improvements between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023

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 - 4 of 4 cases with service improvements

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

  • West Sussex County Council (22 003 256)

    Category: Education Date: 22-Feb-2023

    Summary

    Miss X complained about the Council’s actions when it made enquiries into the home education she was providing to her son, and it was trying to get him to return to school. We found fault with the Council as it incorrectly communicated some parts of the process to her and did not appropriately consider relevant medical information before deciding to proceed with a School Attendance Order. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused and action to prevent recurrence of fault.

    Service improvements

    The Council will send written reminders to all staff within the Elective Home Education and Children Missing Education teams to ensure they remind themselves of the Department for Education’s Elective Home Education: guidance for local authorities. Section 6 in particular states what councils should do when it is not clear that home education is suitable.The Council will ensure reminders to staff should highlight the need for officers to consider if it is expedient for a child to attend school and consider their individual circumstances in relation to Elective Home Education. This learning should also be kept in mind when communicating the process to individual parents.

  • West Sussex County Council (21 018 292)

    Category: Education Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council will review its complaint handling responses against itsown written policy timeframes and determine what steps are required to ensurecompliance with this going forward.The Council will also review its compliance with issuing EHCP’s in accordance with the Regulations and adopt measures to prevent delays occurring.

  • West Sussex County Council (21 008 944)

    Category: Education Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council has agreed that it will issue a reminder to relevant staff on: the importance of due diligence in ensuring that it makes adequate checks where a parent says a child is not receiving education in line with their Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP); the Council must be clear with the parent about its understanding of the requirements of the EHCP and must also be clear with the school about those requirements and ensuring they are met; and clarifying within four weeks of a review whether the Council intends to maintain, amend or end an EHCP.

  • West Sussex County Council (20 008 504)

    Category: Education Date: 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.

    Service improvements

    The Council will make service improvements to ensure officers and families are informed about the circumstances when s.19 education can be funded by the Council, this will include the Council reviewing its policy about elective home education.The Council will ensure its policy on personal education budgets is followed with decisions given in writing with reasons.The Council should ensure officers understand the law about personal education budgets and follow the Council’s policy to provide written decision with reasons and offer a review.The Council will ensure SEND officers are aware an EHC needs assessment decision can be triggered by a child coming to the attention of the Council and does not require a parent request or use of a specific form.

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