| SPOTLIGHT |
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has highlighted two separate cases where Bury Metropolitan Borough Council has taken too long to carry out its recommendations.
The Ombudsman revealed the council has now agreed to fresh recommendations to improve its services along with carrying out the previously agreed actions.
In the first case, Bury agreed to update its post-16 transport to education policy for young adults with Special Educational Needs.
However, the Ombudsman noted: “Despite agreeing to this in 2022, the process is not expected to be complete till Spring 2024.”
In the second complaint, the council agreed to improve the service it provides to children who are being home educated, and whose parents want them to return to school.
However, the council failed to apologise to the family who complained, or provide them with a sum for additional tutoring to make up for the missed education, the report noted.
The Ombudsman said the council has since apologised to the family in the second case, and provided the required payments to them.
“It has also introduced a range of new measures, including a new policy on elective home education. The team responsible for this service has since been restructured and additional staff employed”, said the LGSCO.
Further, the council has introduced additional support for families who want their children to be re-integrated into school and provided staff training on good complaint handling.
Paul Najsarek, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "It's essential that councils put in place our recommendations and we will take action to highlight where this is not the case.
“In both these cases the council agreed to our recommendations – and timescales – to put things right for families in its borough, and at no time did it let us know these would not be achievable. These failures can only have compounded the dismay felt by these families following their initial complaints.
“It should not have taken the threat of publicly highlighting these failures for the council to take more urgent action. However, I am pleased the council has agreed to the further recommendations I have made to put things right and will be paying close attention to ensuring these are carried out without delay."
A spokesperson for Bury Council said: “We accept the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and are committed to addressing the issues identified in the two cases.
“We agree that the delay in implementing change when this was first identified by the LGSCO was unacceptable, and have now put in place clear plans to implement necessary changes in response, and have also taken steps to prevent re-occurrence of delay in responding to such recommendations.”
Lottie Winson
