Issue - meetings

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Ombudsman’s report and the steps taken by the service to address the findings was noted.

2.    That no further action should be taken.

3.    That the Monitoring Officer would bring her report to the attention of all councillors was noted.

4.    That all future complaints raised with the Ombudsman be notified to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Reason for decision:

There was a statutory requirement for the Monitoring Office to bring to Members’ attention any Ombudsman report on the Council that identified it is at fault and has caused injustice as a result.

The Monitoring Officer presented her report and gave background details to the complaint, which arose from the Council’s failings in dealing with a previous complaint about educational provision for a child with special educational needs. She explained that a number of changes to processes had been put in place to ensure that this particular issue did not reoccur. The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) was fully satisfied that appropriate assessments had been carried out to ensure that there had not been any significant impact on the child’s educational attainment. Statutory notices had been published in two newspapers and all Members of the Council would receive a copy of the Ombudsman’s report.

The Leader of the Council extended his apologies for the failings in the handling of the original complaint and was pleased that changes had now been put in place and the child was receiving support. It was requested that all complaints that involve the LGO are also sent to the relevant Cabinet Member in order that they can keep track of it.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Ombudsman’s report and the steps taken by the service to address the findings was noted.

2.    That no further action should be taken.

3.    That the Monitoring Officer would bring her report to the attention of all councillors was noted.

4.    That all future complaints raised with the Ombudsman be notified to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Reason for decision:

There was a statutory requirement for the Monitoring Office to bring to Members’ attention any Ombudsman report on the Council that identified it is at fault and has caused injustice as a result.