Case Ref: 24 007 156 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will remind those dealing with school transport cases of the need to ensure parents/carers are given the opportunity to attend appeal panel hearings should they wish to.
• The Council will advise those dealing with transport appeals of the need to keep notes from the appeal hearing so there is a record of what information the appeal panel considered.
• The Council will remind those dealing with complaints to ensure complaints which include concerns about failure to follow processes or consider relevant information are put through the Council’s complaints procedure even if the Council considers the decision cannot be overturned by the complaint process.

Case Ref: 24 003 369 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council should consider whether this is an isolated incident or whether it needs to take further action to remind service providers about the completion of contracts.

Case Ref: 24 003 113 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council should provide us with evidence of the steps it has taken to improve its communication.

Case Ref: 24 002 510 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to review why there was a failure to act, explore, and properlyconsider Mrs D’s concerns raised at the time about the need for an interimreview and non-provision.
• The Council agreed to remind relevant officers of the need to act, explore, and properlyconsider concerns raised about the need for interim reviews and claims ofnon-provision.
• The Council agreed to clarify whether the changes it made following thedelays with the EHC needs assessment resulted in improvements to the overallcompletion of the process and compliance with statutory timeframes.
• The Council agreed to review why there were delays sending the required informationand notices following the interim review along with the final EHC plan.
• The Council agreed to:a) remind officers of the need to respond to communication properly and fully from parents about their children’s EHC plans and concerns.b) remind Complaint Officers of the need, where appropriate, to tell complainants their complaint will take longer than the standard time period and to give them reasons along with a likely date by which they will receive a final response.

Case Ref: 23 021 000 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to remind officers of the Council’s responsibility, under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996, to ensure children out of school receive full-time education provision, or the provision that is assessed to be in the child’s best interests. The Council should continue to review its decision about whether it owes a section 19 duties to make sure it steps in as soon as the duties are engaged.

Case Ref: 23 017 942 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Create an action plan to demonstrate how the Council will implement the steps it has taken to improve its Special Educational Needs and Disability service.
• Provide evidence of how the Council is monitoring the impact of the changes made to its Special Educational Needs and Disability service.

Case Ref: 23 017 456 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• The Council has agreed to provide us with an action plan which sets out how, in future, it will avoid similar failings in safeguarding timeliness and social work visiting frequency.

Case Ref: 23 011 999 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind staff of the importance of communicating decisions around educational personal budgets in writing to applicants.
• The Council will remind staff of the importance of considering complaints and providing clear, reasoned responses.

Case Ref: 23 011 962 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Review its alternative education policy alongside our published guidance ‘Out of school, out of sight?’ July 2022. It should consider the recommendations we made, and how it can incorporate these recommendations into its policy.

Case Ref: 23 008 346 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Provide the Ombudsman with evidence of the steps taken as part of the Council’s remodelling of its special educational needs and disability service, and its employment of additional Educational Psychologists.