Cheshire East Council
Annual statistics ?Find out more about annual statistics
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Complaints upheld
76% Complaints upheld by Cheshire East Council
76% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 79% in similar authorities.
19 upheld decisions
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Cheshire East Council's population, this is
4.7 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.The average for authorities of this type is
4.6 upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.Statistics are based on a total of 25 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 Cheshire East 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 16 compliance outcomes for the period between 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
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Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
16% Complaints with satisfactory remedy provided by Cheshire East Council
In 16% of upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
This compares to an average of 13% in similar authorities.
3 satisfactory remedy decisions
Statistics are based on a total of 19 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 Cheshire East Council
Council did not consider exceptional circumstances when denying care payments to young disabled man
Councils must properly consider individual circumstances when they balance people’s choice to be cared for by a family member against the risk to their carer of working long hours, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has recommended.
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: 24 005 228
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council remind relevant Council officers of the importance of keeping clear, complete and contemporaneous records of its decision making when deciding if it has a duty to provide alternative provision to meet its duties under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.
- The Council will review its policy to only commission online provision for children who require alternative provision under section 19 of the Education Act 1996, due to illness or otherwise, and ensure the policy does not fetter its discretion to consider the individual needs of each child, in line with the legislation.
Case reference: 24 001 618
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to provide the Ombudsman with an action plan specifically around how the Council intends to reduce mainstream Occupational Therapy wait times and a further update on its progress with the backlog three months after providing the plan.
Case reference: 24 001 596
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- the Council will provide training to its early help team, its attendance and out of school officers and its schools about the referral process to its medical tuition team for pupils unable to attend school on health grounds.
Case reference: 24 000 705
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will remind its officers responding to complaints to ensure it provides a full complaint response when it becomes aware it has omitted to respond to a point of complaint initially.
Case reference: 23 019 884
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council will remind relevant staff to respond to parent’s concerns about their children's education within three to five working days, and to avoid drift and delay in considering whether a child should receive alternative provision under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.
Case reference: 23 019 854
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council agreed to clarify, with staff responsible for responding to special educational needs complaints, the correct interpretation of the Council's complaints procedure. It should ensure it does not refuse to investigates at stage two of its process which are about issues further consideration by the Council might resolve.
Case reference: 23 018 188
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council should review what happened in the safeguarding process to see whether any changes are needed to ensure as far as possible the same fault does not occur again;
- The Council should remind staff, and if necessary, provide staff training on the need to give proper reasoned decision when making decisions on a deprivation of capital.
Case reference: 23 017 017
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will complete a review of its transfer processes to ensure they are in line with the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) code of practice in relation to Service children with Education, Health and Care Plans, and have due regard to the Armed Forces Covenant. The Council will produce a timebound action plan to implement any improvements it identifies as necessary as a result of that review.
- The Council will remind relevant staff members dealing with transfers of children with Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans that it should accept the EHC Plan as it is, provide a placement and/or the provision in the Plan and then complete the annual review process set out in the SEND code of practice.
Case reference: 23 014 723
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council has agreed to set out to the Ombudsman what steps the Council is taking as part of its Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) sufficiency planning to increase its number of specialist school placements, including expected timeframes for this.
- The Council has agreed to outline what steps it is taking as part of its SEND improvement strategy to improve its timeliness in carrying out annual reviews and finalising Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans, and when it expects it will begin to see improvements in this area.
- The Council has agreed to remind SEND staff that EHC Plans must be finalised within 12 weeks of annual review meetings.
- The Council has agreed to remind SEND staff that where a school has told the Council it can no longer meet a child or young person’s needs, it cannot rely on that school to continue providing the education in a person’s EHC Plan. Instead a suitable alternative education placement must be found for them.
Case reference: 23 005 368
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council will complete a review and determine whether any other residents have been affected in a similar way to Miss D's situation. It will decide whether they have been caused injustice such as being out of pocket and put things right if necessary. It will confirm the out of the review to the Ombudsman detailing what action it has taken.
- The Council will ensure all staff whose responsibilities may include administering, commissioning, assessing for or providing section 117 aftercare have knowledge of the relevant law, guidance and policy, as appropriate to their roles. They will provide training as necessary.
- The Council will remind all its staff involved in this case that the duty to pay for accommodation which is part of section 117 aftercare services is imposed on the Council and relevant health authority until such time they are satisfied a person can be discharged from section 117 and not simply because the status of a property may change to supported living accommodation. It will remind its staff that those entitled to section 117 aftercare accommodation should not be told to claim housing benefit as set out in their joint policy.
Last updated: 4 April 2015