Summary: Miss X complained the Council has failed to provide her daughter with alternative full time education since she stopped attending school due to ill health in April 2024. We found the Council’s failure to provide a suitable education since October 2024 is fault. The Council has taken appropriate action to remedy this fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council has failed to provide her daughter with alternative full time education since she stopped attending school due to ill health in April 2024. As a result Miss X’s daughter has missed out on formal education and Miss X says she has lost skills she had previously learnt. Miss X has also experienced significant stress and anxiety which has impacted on her health and wellbeing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I have and have not considered

6. As set out above we expect people to come to us within 12 months of them thinking the Council has done something wrong. As Miss X contacted us in June 2025 we would generally on consider events since June 2024.
7. However in this case I have exercised discretion to consider events since April 2024 when Y stopped attending school.
8. I have not considered events after Miss X contacted us in June 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Alternative provision

11. If a council discovers a child is absent from school for an extended period, it should consider the reasons for this, and take account of evidence from relevant parties (such as the child’s school, parents, and medical professionals). It must then decide whether it has a duty to make alternative educational provision.
12. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that councils must arrange suitable alternative educational provision when it finds that a child is unable to attend school because of a permanent exclusion, an illness, or for any other reason which make the school inaccessible to the child. The alternative educational provision must be suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs they have.
13. Councils should consider any attempts the school is making to support the child. This might involve sending work home for the child to complete, arranging disability related support, placing the child on a reduced timetable, or providing online education as a short-term measure. If there is a clear, effective, and time-bound plan for reintegration then there may be no immediate role for the council in providing alternative education.
14. We publish good practice guidance on how we expect councils to fulfil their responsibilities to identify and arrange alternative educational provision: Supporting children out of school (October 2025)
15. Our guidance says that councils should:
• consider all the reasons for a child's absence from school, and make a written evidence-based decision about whether it will arrange alternative education provision;
• communicate this decision as a matter of good practice to parents and where it decides not to arrange alternative education tell parents the expectations about school attendance, and the potential consequences for continued absences;
• ensure the provision meets the individual needs of the child where it decides to arrange alternative education and explain its reasons for providing a part-time education if it decides the child cannot cope with full time provision;
• keep all cases of part-time education under review with a view to increasing when the child is able;
• work with parents and schools to draw up plans to reintegrate children to their normal educational setting as soon as possible, reviewing and amending plans as necessary; and
• ensure effective channels of communication between parents, internal teams, and external bodies (such as schools, and the NHS) so that issues are dealt with promptly by the right people, and that any complaints are identified and responded to under the relevant policy.
16. Where councils arrange for schools or other bodies to carry out their functions on their behalf, the council remains responsible. Therefore councils should retain oversight and control to ensure their duties are properly fulfilled.

What happened here

17. The following is a summary of the key events relevant to our consideration of the complaint. It does not include everything that happened.
18. Miss X’s daughter, Y was in Reception class at a mainstream school, School 1. Miss X says Y stopped attending school in April 2024 Y due to high levels of school based anxiety.
19. In May 2024 School 1 contacted the Council to request support as Y was refusing school and had missed 14 days. School 1 said Miss X believed Y was masking autism but the school had not seen any challenges since Y had started in September. The Council made suggestions to encourage Y to attend school.
20. The following month School 1 asked the Council to consider Y’s case at its Children who Can’t Attend School (CCAS) panel. The CCAS panel assessed Y’s case in late June 2024. The panel decided the case did not meet the Council’s section 19 duty and recommended the school discuss strategies and adjustments with Miss X to support Y to attend school. The panel also noted the Complex Communication Needs (CNN) team were due to visit Y at home and would be able to provide more strategies and suggestions.
21. In August 2024 Miss X made a formal complaint and asked the Council to provide alternative provision for Y. Miss X told the Council Y had special educational needs (SEN) and she had applied for an Education, health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment. She also noted that as Y had not attended school since 24 April 2024, the Council should have provided alternative provision since 15 May 2024.
22. The Council told Miss X it was planning to review the case again at a CCAS panel within the first few weeks of term in September. The panel would reconsider whether the case now met the Council’s section 19 duties.
23. The CCAS panel met on 10 September 2024 and agreed to offer the use of an AV1 Robot so that Y could keep her connection with the school. It would be a motivator to get Y back into school. The panel suggested this start with one to one sessions with a pastoral support worker.
24. Miss X considered the use of a virtual robot would be extremely detrimental to Y’s mental health and asked the Council to arrange a placement at a care farm alternative provision setting. As Y had been out of education for 72 days Miss X believed a reduced level of education would initially be in her best interest. She asked the Council to consider her complaint about missed educational provision further.
25. The CCAS panel reconsider the case on 15 October 2024 and agreed to a care farm placement. The Council said it would ask School 1 to complete the necessary forms so a placement could be arranged.
26. Miss X chased the Council for details of a care farm placement several times in October and November 2024. She then made a further complaint in December 2024 as Y was still not receiving any education.
27. The Council apologised for the delay in arranging a placement. It had now identified a suitable placement and noted the care farm had contacted Miss X to arrange a visit and start date.
28. Y remained on roll at School 1 and began attending a care farm for 3 days a week from 13 January 2025.
29. In April 2025 Miss X complained the Council had delayed in arranging suitable full time education for Y, resulting in missed education and special education provision. She complained Y was accessing alternative provision but not receiving formal curriculum teaching. She also complained the alternative provision arrangements had not been kept under review.
30. The Council responded on 15 May 2025. It noted it had initially provided an AV1 robot, offering Y access to classroom learning. But Miss X did not consider this appropriate and sought alternative provision at a care farm. The Council said it had due regard to educate Y in accordance with parental preference and arranged provision at a care farm. It also noted that Miss X had suggested a reduced level of education would be in Y’s best interests. The Council said it had no record of Miss X requesting additional alternative provision prior to her complaint, or that she had complained about the content or quality of alternative provision at the care farm.
31. The Council partially upheld the complaint as it had not reviewed the provision. It apologised and said it would arrange a formal review.
32. The Council then offered to arrange tuition while it identified a suitable special school placement for Y. This tuition would supplement the provision at the care farm.
33. Miss X made a further complaint in late May 2025. She was pleased the Council had upheld her complaint in October 2024 and agreed to arrange provision at a care farm. She was also pleased the Council had upheld her further complaint and recognised there were delays in arranging the provision, and that it had now agreed to provide tuition. However she complained the Council had not offered a remedy for the 12 months missed educational provision.
34. Miss X asked the Council to confirm when the tuition would start and to provide a financial remedy for Y’s missed education.
35. The Council responded on 17 June 2025 and upheld Miss X’s complaint about delays in arranging alternative provision between 18 October 2024 and 7 January 2025. This led to Y missing 8 term weeks of education. The Council apologised for this and offered to pay £750 to recognise the missed education, and £100 to recognise Miss X’s frustration.
36. The Council sent a further response to Miss X’s complaints on 24 June 2025. It noted it had agreed Miss X’s request for a reduced level of provision while Y transition to the care farm setting with the plan to build up. Following an increase in hours, Miss X then asked for this to be reduced again to around 1.5 hours a day due to Y’s anxiety.
37. The Council also noted that it had agreed to arrange additional tuition on 15 May 2025 but it had taken four term weeks to make this available. As Miss X had requested addition provision on 9 April 2025, the Council calculated there was a total of 7.5 term weeks fault. The Council offered to pay £520 to recognise the reduced educational and special educational provision for his period, and another £100 for the frustration this caused.
38. Miss X has asked the Ombudsman to investigate her concerns. She says she has had to make complaint after complaint which has had an impact on her own health and wellbeing. Miss X is also worried about the impact missing a formal education since April 2024 is having on Y.
39. In response to my enquiries the Council says that prior to October 2024 a suitable education was available to Y at School 1. And that it provided/ offered advice and guidance as well as the support of an AV1 Robot to help with reintegration and to support school.
40. It says it carefully considered the information available when concerns were initially raised. Although Miss X said Y’s SEN was a barrier to her accessing education, the Council notes School 1 did not identify the same barriers and felt they were able to support Y in school.
41. The Council says other professionals, including the CCN team did not report difficulties to the same extent as Miss X and recommended a structured reintegration. It says School 1 worked with Miss X to implement this but despite the school’s persistence the situation did not improve. In October 2024 the Council agreed to arrange alternative provision as School 1 and Mrs X’s relationship seemed beyond repair and the provision of a Robot had not been supported.
42. The Council has applied different rates to the sums it has paid to Miss X to recognise the missed or reduced education since October 2024. It says it applied a rate of £1200 per term for the period 18 October 2024 to 7 January 2025. This was on the basis Y required SEND support but did not have an EHC Plan and the extent of her SEND was not yet identified.
43. For the period 9 April to 26 June 2025 the Council applied a higher rate of £1800 per term as there was now an EHC Plan in place and the extent of Y’s SEND was confirmed. However it then halved the rate as there was some provision in place for Y.

Analysis

44. The law is clear that councils must intervene and provide education under their section 19 Education Act duty if no suitable educational provision has been made, for example by their school, for a child who is missing education through exclusion, illness or otherwise. This means that once the Council was alerted to Y's absence it needed to consider its legal duties and take action where appropriate.
45. The Council needed to consider whether Y was receiving a suitable education, and whether this education was “reasonably available and accessible” to her. The Council considered Y’s case at its CCAS panel in June 2024 and determined it did not have a section 19 duty to provide suitable alternative education. It recommended School 1 implement strategies and adjustments to support Y attend school. Miss X disagrees with this decision, but it is one the Council is entitled to make.
46. We are not an appeal body; we do not have the power to overturn council decisions or replace them with our own. If a council has made a decision without fault then we cannot criticise it, no matter how strongly someone disagrees with that decision.
47. The Council reviewed the position in September and again in October 2024. The delay in arranging a care farm placement following the CCAS panel decision in October 2024 is fault. As was the failure to keep the level of provision under review.
48. The Council accepts there were periods from October 2024 onwards when Y did not receive a suitable education. It has made payments both to recognise the missed education and the frustration caused to Miss X. These payments are in line with our guidance on remedies. As the Council has apologised and the payments are appropriate I do not consider any additional remedies are necessary.

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Decision

49. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman