Local Government Lawyer, 'Council claims Ombudsman request for it to process DoLS applications within set time constraints “not possible”' (3/9/21)
DOLS failures This article reports Kent County Council's Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health as saying: "[W]e believe that it is not possible for us to comply with the [Ombudsman's] recommendations to 'ensure all current and future requests for standard authorisations are completed within prescribed timescales' and 'to provide written evidence showing that we have monitored all requests for standard authorisations post-dating the final report and completed them within the legal timeframes described in the report'. The article also notes that the Ombudsman's recommendations would be formally debated at a council committee, and that Kent had agreed to apologise to the complainant and pay him £500 for his distress.