Leicestershire County Council (19 017 034)
Summary: Miss Y complained the Council failed in its duty to provide suitable full-time education to her daughter, W, when they moved to a new house.
Finding
The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and found fault causing injustice.
Remedy
To remedy the injustice identified in this report, the Council has agreed to:
- apologise and pay £7,200 to Miss Y for W’s educational benefit. This comprises £600 for each month W remained out of school and without any educational provision. The Council’s duty began on 7 January 2019 and ended on 24 February 2020; and
- pay £300 to Miss Y for the avoidable time and trouble caused by the Council’s inability to resolve her complaint locally, and for any distress and confusion caused by the incorrect conclusions it reached in its complaint response.
- provide us with evidence that it has reminded all Schools and Academies in its area regarding their duties under Regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006;
- update us, with evidence, to show the progress made in completing the action plan which it shared with us in September 2020. If all actions have not been completed, the Council will provide an explanation of the status and an anticipated completion date; and in addition to the action plan already produced, arrange internal training with its officers in the Admissions/Fair Access Protocol/Children Missing in Education teams to go over the service improvements in the plan. The Council will also use the training to refresh officers’ knowledge around the Fair Access Protocol and the requirement to escalate applications without delay if a pupil is off-roll and not receiving any education.
Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 30 April 2021