Case Ref: 23 007 900 Category: Housing Sub Category: Allocations

• draft a procedure note for staff on how direct offer process works

Case Ref: 23 000 152 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• The Council has agreed it will reflect on the issues raised in this decision statement and identify any additional areas of service improvement, particularly around communication when several care options are being considered. The Council will prepare a short report setting out what it intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur and send this to the Ombudsman.

Case Ref: 22 011 243 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will provide training to staff on the requirements of parental funded transport outlined in S and another v Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council[2012]. This should include guidance on assessing transport requests and the process for agreeing parental funded transport.
• The Council will remind staff of the Council's policy to review EHCP placements when a parent raises concerns that they can no longer provide transport to a school of parental preference.

Case Ref: 22 011 231 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will give a written briefing to officers reminding them of the Council’s legal duty to keep the suitability of temporary accommodation under review when an applicant reports a change in their circumstances or submits new medical evidence. The suitability decision should be put in writing to the applicant and should notify them of their section 202 review rights.

Case Ref: 22 003 018 Category: Housing Sub Category: Homelessness

• The Council will show it has reviewed the complaint and identified the lessons learned in terms of:a) Record keeping; b) Clarity about homelessness decisions and issuing decision letters;c) Agreeing PHPs with the applicant;d) How it explains to applicants their right to interim accommodation and more specifically how it explores the suitability of this with disabled applicants; ande) How it meets the duties of the Equality Act 2010 including the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to its homelessness duties. It will share the lessons learned with relevant staff.

Case Ref: 22 008 142 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will remind officers dealing with complaints to ensure they do not prevent a complaint about delay going forward until the process that is the subject of the delay is completed.
• The Council will carry out training for officers dealing with EHCPs to ensure they are aware of the need to comply with the timescales set out in the code of practice and of the requirements during the EHC needs assessment.

Case Ref: 22 008 030 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will carry out a training session for officers dealing with EHCPs to ensure they are aware of the timescales they must adhere to.
• The Council will provide evidence of the steps it has taken or is taking to identify alternative education provision for children not attending school and not able to receive home tuition.

Case Ref: 22 005 217 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to review its procedures regarding the annual review process and ensure information is gathered and shared with all parties prior to the meeting.
• The Council has agreed to ensure it issues decision letters after annual reviews within statutory timescales and minimises delays and provide evidence this guidance has been sent to relevant staff.
• The Council will implement procedures for monitoring and recording delivery of provision in the EHC Plans of its children and young people that it is under a non-delegable duty to make sure are provided.

Case Ref: 22 003 639 Category: Children's care services Sub Category: Other

• The Council agreed to carry out training with the relevant staff on its duties under the statutory children’s complaints procedure.
• The Council was at fault when it delayed in completing stage 2 of the statutory children's complaints procedure and refused to progress to stage 3. The Council agreed to carry out an audit of statutory children’s complaints between April 2021 and July 2022 to determine if there have been other cases where it has refused to progress to either stage 2 or stage 3 of the procedures after a request by the complainant. The Council agreed to report its findings to the relevant overview and scrutiny committee together with the findings of this investigation and an action plan specifying how it will deal with any identified cases.

Case Ref: 22 002 510 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Antisocial behaviour

• The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure community trigger review requests are dealt in line with the Council's published policy.
• The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they are aware of their duties under theEquality Act 2010 and they must respond when someone asks for reasonableadjustments.
• The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure complaints are escalated appropriately and in accordance with the Council’s complaints procedure.
• The Council will issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure requests to submit evidence to support complaints of ongoing anti-social behaviour are actioned in a timely way.