July 30, 2020, (UK) St Helens Star: Local Government Ombudsman reveals St Helens complaints https://www.sthelensstar.co.uk/news/18618352.local-government-ombudsman-upheld-6-complaints-st-helens/ West Central England THE Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has revealed how many complaints it upheld against St Helens Borough Council in 2019-20. The Ombudsman, which investigates complaints from the public about councils and other bodies providing public services in England, has released the figures as part of its annual review. During 2019-20, the Ombudsm an upheld six complains against St Helens Council, equating to an uphold rate of 75 per cent…. These statistics are based on a total of eight detailed investigations for carried out in 2019-20. One investigation that was upheld involved a complaint made by a woman referred to as Mrs X, who said the council failed to provide education and special educational needs (SEN) support to her son. The Ombudsman found the council had delayed in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process and recommended that it apologise to Mrs X and pay her a total of £1,600. [$2,100]. In another investigation, a woman referred to as Ms X complained that the council had unreasonably refused to assign a social worker from its children with disabilities service to assess her son, and had delayed in meeting his needs…. The most complaints related to education and children’s services, with 11 complaints received…. The Ombudsman said in 100 per cent of cases it was satisfied the council had successfully implemented its recommendations, based on a total of seven compliance outcomes for the period or 2019-20.
