Dorset County Council (18 016 599)
Summary: Mr B complains the Council has failed to ensure his son C received the provision detailed in his Education, Health and Care plan. He also complains it failed to arrange suitable alternative provision whilst C was out of mainstream education.
Finding
The Ombudsman upheld the complaint and fount fault causing injustice.
Recommendations
Within one month of our final report (unless otherwise stated), we recommend the Council:
- Allocates £4,000 of funding to be used to benefit C’s education. It should consult him and his parents before deciding how this money should be spent. If an agreement cannot be reached, the money should be put in a trust fund which C can access when he is 18 years old. Importantly, this funding must be over and above that used to provide any ongoing, day-to-day support that C is currently receiving.
- Pays C £1,000 for the distress its actions caused. There should be no restrictions on how C should spend this money.
- Pays C’s parents £300 each to remedy the injustice they were caused.
- Holds a meeting to discuss C’s education with everyone involved in his case and plan what it should do next, within one month of the start of the new school term. It should invite C, his parents, his school, a representative from the farm, and any other relevant party who can give an insight into his needs. It should also ensure the SEN Team chairs this meeting and that one of its EPs attends. Its agenda should encompass the following topics:
- Whether C requires an EHC needs assessment. If it is decided he does, this should be initiated without delay and carried out in accordance with the SEN Code of Practice. Likewise, if the Council decides an assessment is not required but C’s parents disagree, it should inform them of their right to appeal its decision to the SEND Tribunal.
- When it will amend and update C’s EHC plan, be it after an EHC needs assessment or without one. In either case, it should ensure it does this without delay.
- Identify what C’s short and long-term academic objectives are and discuss whether his current provision will enable him to meet those objectives.
- Consider whether any specialist school or college could offer a more suitable placement. If so but is felt a place would not be offered, the Council should consider whether to use its powers under Sections 96 and 97 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to direct a school or college to admit C.
- Discuss how the £4,000 payment should be used and whether additional provision could be obtained in the short-term to help C achieve his academic objectives.
- Writes to C and his parents to apologise for the stress and inconvenience it caused, acknowledging the impact of its faults.
Within six months of our final report, we recommend the Council:
- Creates and issues staff guidance about EHC needs assessments. This guidance should refer to the SEN Code of Practice and state the threshold at which the SEN Team should seek to initiate an assessment. • Develops procedures to help staff when they need to identify and secure alternative provision. These procedures should refer to the relevant statutory guidance about this matter and the Council’s Approved Provider Checklist.
- They should stress the importance of using this Checklist and considering how any provision identified will help the child achieve their academic objectives or outcomes in their EHC plan. Similarly, the procedures should highlight the importance of monitoring the child’s progress and give direction about what staff should do when they are struggling to place a child or find them suitable provision.
- Revises its Local Offer to include details of the alternative provision it will arrange for those children that are not in full-time education. It should ensure it provides a range of options so it can meet the various needs and circumstances of those children in its area.
- Delivers a briefing to all staff in the SEN Team once the guidance and procedures mentioned above are complete. This briefing should familiarise staff with the new guidance and procedures, as well as discuss the learning points from this report.
- Provides complaint handling training to those in the SEN Team that deal with complaints. This training should focus on the need to address the key points raised by a complainant and investigate anything that might have gone wrong.
- Likewise, it should emphasise the importance of assessing any injustice the complainant was caused and how this might be remedied.