Case Ref: 24 006 616 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council agreed to review its process for referring people for a financial assessment. It should ensure, whenever possible, that people have the necessary information about the contribution they will be expected to pay towards their care before they need to make decisions about the care they want.
• The Council agreed to provide a briefing to its financial assessment staff and practitioners about how the Council should consider allowances for costs to people of their disregarded properties. This should include the relevant rules, guidance and Council policy.

Case Ref: 24 004 875 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to provide evidence of the steps taken to:•ensure direct payments are not held up due to discussions over which service is involved with a service user; and •ensure the reasons for decisions about which service a child will be under are fully explained to parents in good time.

Case Ref: 24 004 481 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the guidance which states within four weeks of a review meeting, the Council must notify the child’s parent of its decision to maintain, amend or discontinue the EHC Plan.
• The Council has agreed to, by training or otherwise, remind staff of the importance of adhering to the Council’s complaints procedure; andprovide training or guidance to all relevant staff on the Council’s duties when a child is unable to attend school.

Case Ref: 24 004 188 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of the need to act promptly in fulfilling a remedy it has already agreed with a complainant. This will help to ensure that matters are quickly brought to a close and lessen the likelihood of further distress and inconvenience to the complainant.

Case Ref: 24 004 142 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to produce and circulate a briefing to its special educational needs and education staff, and relevant elected members, of the Council’s duties to arrange alternative education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996. This should include, but not be limited to, the Council’s legal responsibilities, its expectations for staff when concerns are raised that a child or young person is not accessing the education otherwise available to them and Ombudsman’s 'Out of school, out of sight' focus report.

Case Ref: 24 003 150 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Child protection

• Remind relevant staff via training, or a briefing paper, of the statutory guidance Getting the best from Complaints as well as drawing their attention to the Ombudsman's practitioner's guidance.

Case Ref: 24 001 526 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agree to remind staff in its special educational needs team about the importance of:complying with the statutory timescales following a review of an EHC plan;promptly taking action to secure the provision in EHC plans when it knows this is no longer being provided; andproperly considering and recording their decisions about whether the Council needs to make alternative education provision for children who are not attending school.

Case Ref: 24 001 423 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council should produce and circulate a briefing note to relevant staff to remind them that it is not possible to make changes to the provision of a child who has an Education Health and Care Plan without issuing a revised plan and an amendment notice to enable the child or young person’s parents to comment. This is in line with the process for amending a plan set out in the SEN Code paragraphs 9.193 to 9.198.

Case Ref: 24 001 417 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council agreed remind staff of the existence of the Council’s policy on managing unacceptable behaviour from members of the public and the importance of following that policy when imposing contact restrictions.

Case Ref: 23 021 398 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to share a copy of our final decision with staff in its Children’s Complaints Team. It will remind them that where a complainant has appealed about an Education, Health, and Care Plan to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), this does not prevent the Council from considering how it should remedy injustice caused by delays before the appealable decision.