Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (19 013 767)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 06-Jan-2021

Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to ensure her daughter B received adequate education and support at school as set out in her Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), then failed to make alternative provision after B stopped attending school. She also complains of delays in updating B’s EHCP and of poor complaint handling. There is fault by the Council in that B’s EHCP was slightly delayed, but no evidence this caused injustice.

Central Bedfordshire Council (19 020 891)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 05-Jan-2021

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mrs Q’s son’s Education, Health and Care plan. This is because she has either appealed to SENDIST or could have done so. In addition, we are unlikely to find fault with the Council on a part of the complaint that could not be appealed to SENDIST. And it would not be a good use of public resources to investigate the Council’s handling of Mrs Q’s complaint in isolation.

Birmingham City Council (19 015 148)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 05-Jan-2021

Summary: The Council failed to provide Mr D’s son with educational support in accordance with his Education, Health and Care Plan. Mr D’s son missed out on approximately four weeks of full-time suitable education. The Council has agreed to make a payment of £400 to remedy the injustice this has caused.

Nottinghamshire County Council (20 007 480)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 05-Jan-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the adequacy of an Education Health and Care Plan as the Tribunal is considering this. We will not investigate whether any Council delays caused Miss X an injustice until the Tribunal finishes and the final needed provision is known.

Surrey County Council (19 018 109)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 05-Jan-2021

Summary: The Council were at fault in how it dealt with a review of Mrs Y’s daughters Education Health and Care (EHC) plan. The Council has now agreed to make a payment that recognises the injustice this caused.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (19 016 588)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 23-Dec-2020

Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly refused to complete Education, Health and Care needs assessments for his two children. He said the Council upheld his complaint but has not yet paid him the financial remedy it offered. The Council was at fault. There was poor service and delay which caused Mr X frustration and distress. It has agreed to pay Mr X £300 to recognise the frustration and distress caused but also to recognise the further frustration caused by additional delay in completing the assessments after it upheld his complaint.

London Borough of Bromley (19 017 617)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 21-Dec-2020

Summary: Ms F complains the Council took too long to hold a review of her son’s EHC Plan and to issue an updated Plan. She says this has prevented her from using her right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal and denied her son the SEN provision he needs. We have found fault. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Ms F.

Staffordshire County Council (19 011 998)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 17-Dec-2020

Summary: Ms J complains the Council failed to provide education to her son, K, throughout 2019. K was not attending school and the Council decided to prosecute her for his non-attendance. This caused her distress and K missed a service he was entitled to receive. When she made complaints, the Council failed to deal with them in a timely way causing time and trouble. The investigation found evidence of fault in failing to provide K with education from September to December 2019. It also found evidence of fault in the Council’s complaints handling.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (19 008 029)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 16-Dec-2020

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s lack of support for her children, A and B, who have special educational needs. The Council was at fault for a delay in issuing an amended Education Health and Care plan for A in early 2019, a delay in providing a listening device for A, the failure to ensure all the speech and language provision in A’s plan was delivered between April and September 2019, and the failure to identify a specialist dyslexia tutor for both boys. It should pay Mrs X £1,000 to remedy the frustration and time and trouble the faults caused her, and the injustice and uncertainty the lack of support caused the boys.

Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (19 018 061)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 16-Dec-2020

Summary: Mr B, complains the Council has failed to deliver suitable support for his children’s special educational needs and to reassess their needs. He also complains the Council failed to respond to his complaints. The Council delayed reassessing and issuing Mr B’s children with new Education, Health, and Care plans, this caused injustice to Mr B and his children. The Council has agreed to issue the children’s Education, Health and Care plans within one week of this decision and to make a financial remedy to Mr B for the delay.