Case Ref: 22 017 163 Category: Planning Sub Category: Planning applications

• The Council does not have a record of why it decided to remove a tree subject to a Tree Preservation Order from a public park. The Council will plant a replacement tree in the public park.

Case Ref: 22 017 008 Category: Environment and regulation Sub Category: Other

• In response to this complaint the Council agreed to review two areas of its complaint handling procedures, to complement an ongoing review in this area. First, its procedure for registering complaints, to ensure they go to the correct service area for a response. Second, to ensure it had a procedure in place to inform complainants of any delays in replies to their complaints, so they knew what was happening and when a reply would be received.

Case Ref: 22 013 640 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council has agreed to take action to ensure that officers take account of the costs associated with owning property when doing financial assessments.

Case Ref: 22 003 038 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council has agreed to issue timescales for deciding whether a request for EOTAS (education otherwise than at school) was suitable or not. This will include a reminder to staff of the need to maintain robust records of any reasons for EOTAS decisions and these should be communicated to parents/guardians and young people
• The Council has agreed to circulate guidance to staff on keeping parents/guardians updated on any progress made on identifying a suitable school placement during the annual review process with details of any schools consulted.
• The Council has agreed to review its policies and procedures to ensure it is clear to staff that the section 19 duty (Education Act 1996) to make alternative arrangements for children who cannot access education under the category ‘otherwise’ has a broad definition. It would include the scenario where a child is unable to take advantage of any available suitable schooling. The Council should consider the findings in the Ombudsman’s focus report Out of school…out of mind? as part of the review and incorporate any relevant points of learning.

Case Ref: 21 010 632 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council agreed to review its policies and procedures for Adult Social Care cases not allocated to a social worker to ensure it regularly checks progress and updates individuals and their representatives.
• The Council agreed to remind: a) its Adult Social Care staff about an individual’s right to a representative or advocate during the care needs assessment process, and the need for an individual or their representative/ advocate to see and agree to needs assessments and associated care and support plans; b) its Adult Social Care finance and charging staff about checking correspondence is sent to the address where an individual is living, particularly where the Council has recently placed them in residential care; and c) its staff who are responsible for complaints about ensuring actions arising from complaint outcomes are chased up with relevant teams and confirmed as complete in good time.

Case Ref: 21 010 032 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council will send a memo to officers dealing with adult social care assessments to remind them to discuss with families the financial implications of choosing a more expensive home than the Council will fund when they are self funders and it is likely they will need to apply to the Council for funding in the future.
• The Council will send a memo to officers dealing with adult social care assessments to remind them of the need to ensure family members or those with lasting Power of Attorney are involved in assessments for those service users who lack, or have limited, capacity.

Case Ref: 20 014 148 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: COVID-19

• The Council will produce an action plan for how it will deal with incoming Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) requests and the backlog of outstanding DoLS requests. The Council will review the action plan when the Liberty Protection Safeguards, introduced by the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 take effect.

Case Ref: 21 004 194 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council should circulate guidance to relevant staff, to remind them the Council should normally be responsible for collecting all service user contributions and top-ups and paying them to care providers itself. If the Council has asked a service user and/or their representatives to pay a care provider direct, its records should show clear reasoning for this, along with a clearly recorded agreement by the service user and/or their representatives.

Case Ref: 21 001 673 Category: Education Sub Category: School admissions

• review its published admissions policy and guidance about applying for primary school, having regard to the Code and Advice; and
• consider whether any changes should be made to include information about: • the right of parents of summer born children to request to delay their child’s entry into reception until the academic year following their fifth birthday; and
• the Council’s process and timescales for considering these requests.

Case Ref: 20 010 643 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Safeguarding

• •Remind staff of the importance of recording how the Council decides to proceed at a particular harms level. •Remind staff that, if a person lacks the mental capacity to be involved in the safeguarding process, the Council has a duty to involve an appropriate person (for example a close family member) in the process.