Summary: Miss B complains about the Council’s provision for her son G’s education and Special Educational Needs (SEN) between September 2014 and September 2019.

Finding

The Ombudsman upheld the complint and found fault causing injustice.

Recommendations

To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to:

• apologise to Miss B and G for the fault we have identified;
• pay G £19,950, for his missed education provision. This is based on a total missed provision over 43 months. Given G’s difficulties, the circumstances and the Council’s investigation findings, we consider the following to be an appropriate remedy;
  • £450 a month of lost provision for the seven months between January and July 2016;
  • £600 a month of lost provision for the 20 months between September 2016 and April 2018; and
  • £300 a month of lost provision for the 16 months between May 2018 and September 2019.

This sum can be used for G’s educational benefit to ensure he catches up, as far as possible, on provision he missed.

• pay £250 to Miss B for the time and trouble in making her complaint;
• pay £800 to Miss B for the avoidable distress caused by having to delay her education and the loss of respite;
• pay Miss B £467 for G’s lost school meal entitlement from May 2017;
• immediately review all alternative provision currently being made to identify and report back to the relevant committee about issues identified and the development of a SMART action plan to address the following:
  • any EHCP that names a non-educational provider;
  • any inadequate alternative education provision; and
  • any alternative provision that is not subject to a contract or has not been commissioned in line with the Council’s agreed procedures.

We also recommend that the Council:

• arranges during September for an Educational Psychologist to work with the school and the family to establish any additional and unidentified needs due to G’s experience. It should then update his Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) accordingly and ensure that G is receiving provision to address the identified needs within three months of the date of this report.

Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 28 June 2021.

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