Case Ref: 23 017 763 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will ensure it provides the correct notifications when a child with an EHC Plan moves into its area.
• The Council will ensure s.19 education is secured where appropriate and intervene when a school fails to make suitable arrangements.
• The Council will ensure it can process funding in a timely way so Section F provision in an EHC Plan is secured.

Case Ref: 23 017 762 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind staff dealing with special educational needs cases that where they are aware a child is not attending school, they should consider each individual case and its Section 19 duty in accordance with the relevant law and guidance.
• The Council will remind staff dealing with complaints that they should provide responses within the policy timeframes and if there is any delay in a full response being provided, they should keep complainants updated and informed of a revised timescale.

Case Ref: 23 017 578 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• The Council will remind housing staff of the Council’s policy when a person is suitable for more than one property.

Case Ref: 23 017 493 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind relevant staff of the need to send decision letters telling parents if it will issue an Education, Health and Care Plan.

Case Ref: 23 017 278 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to develop a long-term plan to address the delay because of Educational Psychologists. This will include taking it to the relevant scrutiny committee or panel and providing the Ombudsman with a copy once complete.

Case Ref: 23 016 943 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council has agreed to remind homelessness staff to send its decisions in writing. This includes if it decides a person is not homeless.
• The Council has agreed to remind homelessness staff to make further enquiries where a person indicates they are homeless due to domestic abuse and make a decision on whether any duty is owed in relation to this.
• The Council has agreed to remind staff to check for key information such as where there have been allegations of domestic abuse in a person’s homelessness application, before contacting the applicant for an assessment.

Case Ref: 23 014 197 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Circulate a briefing note to all relevant staff in its Area Inclusion Partnership to clarify the councils legal duty to provide education following a permanent exclusion, and to confirm that the council retains this duty to provide an education even if an exclusion is appealed. Also to set out what advice and information needs to be given to parents about finding a new permanent school place following an exclusion.

Case Ref: 23 013 988 Category: Benefits and tax Sub Category: Council tax

• By training or other means, the Council as agreed to remind relevant staff of the importance of making and keeping accurate notes and appropriate record of telephone conversations between them and service users.

Case Ref: 23 012 637 Category: Transport and highways Sub Category: Other

• The Council has agreed to amend its policy and processes for dealing with equality related reasonable adjustments in relation to PCN’s and appeals.

Case Ref: 23 006 763 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Residential care

• 2. The Council will:a) review the safeguarding investigation in this complaint and our decision statement and produce an action plan to improve future safeguarding investigations to minimise delay, and improve communication with families;
• b) provide evidence of the actions the Council agreed to take including the revised contract in response to this complaint;
• c) arrange a meeting with Bondcare to share our decision with it and discuss if there are any further lessons learnt from this complaint including how the Council responded to the complaint.