Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to properly consider whether to implement alternative educational provision when it became aware that Miss X’s child, Y was not attending school. This did not cause an injustice as the Council only became aware of the attendance issues in June 2025 and it would have been unable to arrange any alternative provision prior to the summer holidays.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to arrange alternative educational provision for her child (Y) after they stopped attending school in May 2025. Miss X says as a result Y has missed out on a suitable education.

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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. 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)
4. 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. 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

Relevant law and guidance

7. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the Tribunal or the council can do this. 
8. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that the council 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.
9. 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)
10. 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.

11. 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

12. Miss X has a child Y who, in September 2024, attended secondary school. Y’s attendance records show, approximately 20 days coded as temporary suspension and 60 days coded as unauthorised absences from January 2025 until the summer holidays. Y’s attendance started to decline in March 2025 and they stopped attending entirely in May.
13. Miss X complained to the Council at the end of June 2025 that the Council had failed to put in place suitable alternative provision since Y begun to struggle with attendance in March 2025.
14. The Council issued a stage one complaint response mid-July 2025 saying it would not be making an Access to Education referral. Access to Education is the Council’s pathway which considers section 19 requests. This was because the Council said Y’s attendance concerns stem from behaviour in school and being suspended. The Council said if Y was not suspended from school, the provision in place would be suitable.
15. Miss X requested the Council consider her complaint at stage two at the end of July.
16. The Council issued a final complaint response in August. It said it would make a referral the Access to Education panel to consider section 19 whilst the Council carried out Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment.
17. The same month Miss X complained to us as she remained dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of the matter. This is the end point of our investigation.

The Council’s response to our enquiries

18. The Council said it became aware of Y’s attendance issues on 10 June as Miss X requested a meeting to discuss a section 19 referral. It said prior to this the school had managed attendance with a Severe Absence Action Plan. Conversely it said Y did not meet the criteria for section 19 as they were not a severe absentee. It also said most of the absences were authorised. This is not correct, at least 60 are unauthorised on the attendance records it has sent.
19. The Council said after Miss X escalated her concerns through its complaints process, Y’s circumstances were formally considered through the Council’s multi‑agency Access to Education Panel. This was in October 2025 after the end point of my investigation. The panel determined that Y’s circumstances met the criteria and the Council arranged alternative provision.

My findings

20. The Council first became aware Y was not attending school in June 2025. The Council told Miss X in June and again in July that it would not refer Y’s case to the Access to Education Panel to consider whether it had a section 19 duty as Y was not considered a severe absentee. It said if Y was not suspended, they would have received a suitable education.
21. However, the attendance records show that from January, there are significant periods of absences of at least 80 school days which are coded as either unauthorised absence or temporary suspension. Whilst the Council said Y would have received a suitable education but for the suspensions, this is not correct as only a quarter of the absences are coded as this. Therefore, the Council was at fault as it did not properly consider whether to implement alternative educational provision in line with Y’s circumstances and the relevant law and guidance.
22. This did not cause Miss X or Y an injustice as the Council was not aware Y had stopped attending school until June 2025. We would expect the Council to consider whether it had a section 19 duty and implement any alternative provision in six to eight weeks. Had the Council acted without fault, it would still have been unable to implement any alternative provision prior to the summer holidays starting which is the end point of our investigation.

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Action

23. Within three months of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
• Create an action plan demonstrating how it has improved internal processes for considering its Section 19 responsibility including making well-reasoned section 19 decisions taking into account all of the relevant circumstances, legislation and guidance.
24. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

25. I find fault not causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman