Worcestershire County Council
Annual statistics ?Find out more about annual statistics
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Complaints upheld
88% Complaints upheld by Worcestershire County Council
88% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 85% in similar authorities.
23 upheld decisions
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Worcestershire County Council's population, this is
3.8 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.The average for authorities of this type is
4.5 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.Statistics are based on a total of 26 investigations for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
100% of cases were successfully implemented by Worcestershire County Council
100% of cases we were satisfied the Council had successfully implemented our recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Statistics are based on a total of 18 compliance outcomes for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
13% Complaints with satisfactory remedy provided by Worcestershire County Council
In 13% of upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
This compares to an average of 7% in similar authorities.
3 satisfactory remedy decisions
Statistics are based on a total of 23 upheld decisions for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
View all satisfactory remedy decisions
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports ?Find out more about reports
In the last nine years, the Ombudsman has published the following reports against Worcestershire County Council
A Worcestershire child with significant and complex needs had to live in an unsuitable home for far longer than necessary because Bromsgrove and Worcestershire councils made a catalogue of errors when adapting a home to their needs.
A vulnerable looked after child with special educational needs missed out on five and a half terms of education and didn’t receive the therapy they needed for more than two years because staff at a council-owned company, Worcestershire Children First, had such a poor grasp of the SEND system.
Worcestershire stroke survivor left without support she needed
A Worcestershire woman who had had a stroke was left without appropriate care for 12 months because the county council took too long to set up her direct payments.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised the way Worcestershire County Council dealt with a mother’s complaint about the lack of alternative education provided for her son, when mainstream school was no longer suitable for him.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has criticised the way Worcestershire County Council dealt with a mother’s complaint about the lack of alternative education provided for her son, when mainstream school was no longer suitable for him.
Family charged thousands of pounds for care a nursing home could not prove it had provided
Worcestershire County Council has been criticised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after a care home it contracted with charged a vulnerable dementia patient for care it could not prove it had provided.
Service improvements ?Find out more about service improvements
Since April 2018, the Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation. We list up to 10 cases below – click ‘view all’ if there are more.
Case reference: 24 006 871
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council has agreed to provide the Ombudsman with an explanation and evidence of how it has improved internal processes for considering its Section 19 responsibility and making the necessary arrangements to put alternative provision in place in a timely manner.
Case reference: 24 005 022
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- Revise its procedures to ensure the education of children on part time tables is monitored effectively and kept under regular review so that education can be increased as soon as a child is ready.
Case reference: 24 002 995
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will review its processes and ensure it has clear procedures in place for how it carries out oversight of children with Education, Health and Care Plans who are not attending named placements to ensure it meets its Section 42 duty to provide the specialist provision set out in their Plans and the action it should take when the provision is not in place.
- The Council will provide training for all relevant officers on the Council’s duty under Section 42 of the Children and Families Act.
Case reference: 23 019 340
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Provide guidance and training to staff about the importance of recognising and acting on information it receives detailing a child’s failure to access education. This guidance and training should focus on the Council’s responsibility to consider and act on its Section 19 when a child has been absent from school for 15 days, whether consecutive or cumulative.
- Provide guidance and training to staff about considering a child’s individual needs when considering what alternative provision of education is suitable for a child.
Case reference: 23 017 328
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Issue guidance to appropriate officers to ensure that the relevant services are aware of when they should escalate cases where children are not receiving a full time education. This is to enable the Council to consider if it has a duty under section 19 of the Education Act to provide alternative provision for them.
- Review its procedures to ensure alternative provision which meets achild’s needs is made without delay in the event the Council has accepted aduty under section 19 of the Education Act.
- Review its complaints procedure to make clear that the Council may consider a complaint informally and to consider if a complaint which has been considered informally should then be considered at stage two in the event of escalation. This is to ensure transparency in how the Council considers complaints and to ensure the Council does not add an extra stage to the published complaints procedure.
Case reference: 23 015 086
Category: Education
Sub Category: School transport
- The Council will remind staff about the importance of providing clear and consistent information about possible transport implications from the decision to name parental preference in Section I of an EHC plan. Staff should also be reminded of the requirement to notify parents in writing of the possible need to review an EHC plan in the event the parent becomes unwilling or unable to fund the transport to their preferred placement.
Case reference: 23 014 942
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- Provide training to staff about the importance of ensuring any provisions detailed in Section F of a child's EHC Plan is quantifiable and specific.
Case reference: 23 009 513
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will put in place a process to track when annual reviews for EHC plans are due and to ensure cases are followed up on once a review has taken place.
Case reference: 23 009 011
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind officers the SEN Code of Practice says special educational provision included in Section F must be detailed and specific and should normally be quantified, for example, in terms of the type, hours and frequency of support and level of expertise.
- The Council will remind officers of its duty to make sure a child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in Section F of an EHC Plan, under Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.
- The Council will review its processes to ensure it can show the special educational provision detailed in a young person's EHC Plan is in place, once a new EHC Plan is issued.
Case reference: 23 008 082
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council will remind relevant staff that it must issue a final amended Education, Health and Care plan within eight weeks of a review, in line with the statutory guidance.
- The Council will review how it consults schools where a child needs a change of placement to ensure it makes sufficient and timely consultations. The Council will produce an action plan with timescales for any improvements it identifies.
- The Council will present the Ombudmsan's investigation that found it had failed to provide education and specialist provision to a child, and its complaints policy not to provide a financial payment to remedy lost education or provision, at a relevant scrutiny committee meeting for discussion.
Last updated: 4 April 2015