Case Ref: 21 017 836 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• Explain what measures it will put in place to ensure that any assessments it has scheduled are undertaken with the appropriate consent in place first
• Explain what measures it will put in place to ensure any applicable reports are sent to the relevant people as soon as available to do so.

Case Ref: 21 016 582 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Council will organise training for adult social care and finance staff about ordinary residence.

Case Ref: 21 014 162 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council agreed to review how it arranges alternative education provision for children unable to arrange school to ensure is provides full-time education or, where it decides this is not in the interests of a child, it records its reasons for that decision.

Case Ref: 21 013 381 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will provide training to staff involved in this complaint and to any staff responsible for school attendance, to ensure they are aware of the Ombudsman's decision in this case and the Council’s duties under s19 of the Education Act to provide education to children who would not otherwise receive it.

Case Ref: 21 013 360 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Charging

• The Council will amend its standard letters to ensure it notifies service users of the right to request a full financial assessment should they be unhappy with the outcome of any light touch assessment regarding their care charges.

Case Ref: 21 012 317 Category: Education Sub Category: Alternative provision

• The Council will review its processes for considering requests for alternative educational provision to ensure that its decisions are in accordance with Section 19 (1) of The Education Act 1996.

Case Ref: 21 012 304 Category: Adult care services Sub Category: Assessment and care plan

• The Trust, Council and Surrey Downs will complete a joint review of their complaints procedures. This review should seek to agree a clear process for handling joint complaints that reflects their duty to cooperate as set out in the complaints regulations. The review should also agree a standardised format for joint responses.

Case Ref: 21 012 246 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council will review how it monitors children who are due to attend a new school to ensure they are on roll, including in year placements.
• The Council will remind its Officers of the Council’s duties to place a child on roll in the named school set out in an EHC plan, and hold a meeting with School Y to ensure it also understands the School’s duty to do so.
• The Council will arrange a debriefing session with professionals involved with Child B, and for the Speech and Language service to discuss Child B’s sessions with Mrs K for the Autumn 2021 term.

Case Ref: 21 008 578 Category: Education Sub Category: School transport

• The Council will remind officers involved in school transport of the correct process for dealing with school transport appeals.
• The Council will review its Home to School/College Travel and Transport Policy June 2020 to address the concerns about clarity identified by the Council’s second stage complaint investigation and ensure that its policy reflects its duties in respect of transport for relevant young adults set out in the Act.
• The Council will review whether other parents’/carers’ mileage arrangements have been similarly affected since September 2020 and provide us with an action plan to address such cases.

Case Ref: 21 007 033 Category: Education Sub Category: Special educational needs

• The Council agreed to identify learning points to take forward to prevent delays in complaint handling where a parent has ongoing Special Educational Needs and Disability tribunal appeals which are unrelated to the matters subject to the complaint.