Cambridgeshire County Council (24 003 043)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 03-Dec-2024

Summary: There was fault by the Council. The Council delayed issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan and did not provide alternative educational provision for a child for the final year of primary school. Apologising and making a symbolic payment remedies the injustice. The child is now attending a specialist secondary school.

Buckinghamshire Council (24 001 992)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 02-Dec-2024

Summary: Mrs B says the Council failed to act when she raised safeguarding concerns about her son being bullied at school and failed to put in place full-time education when he stopped attending school. There is no fault in how the Council dealt with the safeguarding concerns. The Council delayed issuing an education, health and care plan which affected Mrs B’s appeal rights about the school named and failed to put in place an added subject when Mrs B asked for it. An apology, payment to Mrs B and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

North Yorkshire Council (24 011 220)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Alternative provision 30-Nov-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council is at fault in refusing to make alternative educational provision for the complainant’s son who is out of school. This is because investigation would not find fault on the Council’s part.

Cheshire East Council (24 005 228)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 29-Nov-2024

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide suitable full-time alternative provision for her son G when he was unable to attend school from July 2023 until May 2024. The Council was at fault for failing to consider if it should provide, and then failing to provide, alternative provision from February to April 2024. The Council was also at fault for failing to consider if the alternative provision it offered met G’s needs. The Council will apologise and pay Ms X £1,100 to recognise the alternative provision G missed and the uncertainty and frustration caused to Ms X by the Council’s actions. The Council will also review its policy for commissioning alternative provision.

Hertfordshire County Council (23 014 628)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 28-Nov-2024

Summary: Mrs Y complains about the Council’s failure to arrange provision for her child, D, after they were permanently excluded from school. Mrs Y also complains the Council delayed when issuing D’s EHC plan. We find there was some delay in arranging full-time suitable provision for D and some minor delay in finalising the EHC plan. The Council has agreed to complete the remedial actions listed at the end of this statement.

Warwickshire County Council (24 003 162)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 28-Nov-2024

Summary: Miss X complained the Council has failed to offer a suitable alternative education for her son. She said her son has been unable to attend school due to the school not meeting his needs. We find the Council was at fault for failing to properly explain its decision to Miss X. This caused her significant distress. To remedy this injustice caused by fault, the Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment.

Nottinghamshire County Council (24 001 433)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 22-Nov-2024

Summary: The complainant (Mrs X) said the Council had failed to arrange alternative provision for her son (Y) when he could not attend his school. We found fault with the Council which meant Y lost some education. The Council’s fault also caused injustice to Mrs X. We did not investigate anything that happened from the second week of March 2024 as Mrs X appealed the Education Health and Care Plan issued for Y at this time and alternative provision was closely linked to the appeal issues. The Council agreed to apologise, make payments to recognise Y’s and Mrs X’s injustice and carry out some service improvements.

Suffolk County Council (23 020 622)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 21-Nov-2024

Summary: the Council delayed putting in place education for Mrs B’s daughter when she could not attend school due to anxiety. An apology, payment to Mrs B and reminder to officers is satisfactory remedy.

Surrey County Council (24 002 447)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 18-Nov-2024

Summary: We have found fault with the Council for not arranging suitable full-time education after Mr X’s son, Y was permanently excluded from school. This caused Y and his family avoidable distress. The Council agreed to apologise and make a remedy payment to Mr X in recognition of the missed education and distress caused.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (24 000 689)

Statement Upheld Alternative provision 14-Nov-2024

Summary: Mrs B complained the Council failed to adhere to the statutory timeframes for completing an education, health and care assessment for her son and failed to provide him with access to suitable full-time education. Mrs B says this has impacted her son’s emotional and social wellbeing. We have found the Council at fault. The Council has agreed to apologise, pay a financial remedy and issue the final education health and care Plan.