Summary: Ms B complains the Council wrongly told her there was a place for her son, X, at his preferred school. When he arrived at the school at the beginning of term there was no place for him. She says this caused considerable distress to X and her. It meant he has missed out on education and she has had the financial cost of buying a school uniform for the school he could not attend. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice to Ms B and X. The Council will apologise and make a payment to them both.

The complaint

1. I will call the complainant Ms B. She complains the Council wrongly told her there was a place for her son, X, at his preferred school. When he arrived at the school at the beginning of term there was no place for him. She says this caused considerable distress to X and her. It meant he has missed out on education and she has had the financial cost of buying a school uniform for the school he could not attend.

Back to top

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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the complaint and documents provided by Ms B and spoke to her. I asked the Council to comment on the complaint and provide information. I sent a draft of this statement to Ms B and the Council and considered their comments.
5. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

Back to top

What I found

What happened

6. At the time of these events X was 14. He had an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). This named school 1 as the school he should attend. In April 2019 Ms B requested that X move to school 2. Both schools were mainstream provision but school 2 was in another local authority area, council R.
7. The Council immediately consulted school 2 for its views on whether it could meet X’s needs. The school responded in a reply dated the next day but only received by the Council three weeks later. In summary this said it considered X would have too great an impact on other pupils.
8. The next recorded action is eight weeks later when the Council approached council R. The purpose of the contact was to ask whether any challenge to the refusal should be through the council or direct to the school. Council R confirmed that the Council could approach school 2 direct.
9. The Council contacted school 2 and set out in detail the background and X’s needs and behaviours and set out the support the Council would offer to support the placement and move. The school replied with a detailed response concluding that they did not consider they could meet his needs given the current make-up of the year group. The Council replied saying that this was a move from one mainstream placement to another and that parental preference was key. The officer asked that school 2 arrange a visit for Ms B and X to the school.
10. Two weeks later Ms B and X visited the school. After the visit a support worker emailed the Council saying that Ms B had the impression from the visit that the school did not want X to attend. The person conducting the visit had referred to the distance to the school from the family home and difficulties he may have in catching up with school work. The support worker said Ms B was extremely concerned as she did not know where she stood, it was the end of term, she didn’t know what the times were of the school day and where to buy uniform.
11. The Council emailed the school on the Monday of the last week of term and said it was awaiting confirmation that school 2 was still the family’s preferred option but, if it was, it would be naming school 2 (on X’s EHCP). The contact from school 2 responded saying they needed to speak to a senior colleague but would respond by the end of the term. This was on Wednesday and term finished on the Friday. The Council responded saying it had had to confirm the school as that was the parental preference; Ms B would be coming into school the next day to find out about dates and uniform. There was no further response from school 2.
12. There was some correspondence with the Council over the summer about transport arrangements for X to school 2.
13. On the first day of term Ms B and X arrived at school 2 but the school refused to admit him.
14. The Council contacted the local authority for school 2, Council R. Officers said the Council should not have named that school and would not alter their position.
15. The Council then approached another school who agreed to take X. There was an interim review of the EHCP to formalise this and X started at the school in early October.
16. Ms B complained. In responding to her complaint the Council apologised for what it described as a communication breakdown in the handling of her complaint. It also apologised for the distress caused to X and would pay £100. It said school 2 had agreed to refund the cost of the uniform but Ms B would need to return it. The Council agreed to pay the postage costs for the return.

Summary of the relevant guidance

17. A parent has a right to request a particular school be named on the EHCP. There are only two grounds on which a local authority cannot comply with the parental request. The first is if the school would be unsuitable for the young person. The second is if the attendance of the young person at the school would adversely affect others at the school. The statutory guidance explains in more detail what this means.
18. The Council must consult with the school and consider their comments very carefully before deciding whether to name the school. It must send them a copy of the draft EHCP. Where the preferred school is in another local authority it too must be consulted.

Analysis

19. When the Council received the consultation response from school 2 there wasdelay in taking any action. It was almost eight weeks before the Council contacted council R. This delay meant there was only a month before the end of term to resolve the situation.
20. I can make no comment about the actions of school 2 as it does not come within our jurisdiction. But it was clear to the Council that it was reluctant to agree to accept X. In such circumstances it was wrong the Council did not ensure that it followed the formal process to the letter. The requirement is that the proposed school should be named on a draft statement and both the school and the local authority consulted. That did not happen. Probably, in part, because time was short because of the delay I refer to above.
21. These failures meant the situation was not properly resolved. The Council was proceeding on the basis that X was attending school 2 at the start of the new term and told Ms B that. She went to the school where she had some worries but the Council assured her that it was all resolved. She purchased the uniform and prepared X for a new start at the school. She has told me it was devastating for both of them to arrive at the school to be turned away. They had both wanted a new start for him at a fresh school where he could start on the same day as everyone else and that did not happen.
22. Had the Council acted promptly when school 2 refused to accept X in April all of this could have been avoided. If agreement had not been reached with school 2 the formal route could have been followed or an alternative place found if that was considered to be in the best interests of X. The Council should therefore provide some remedy to X and Ms B.
23. I am satisfied the Council has now made changes to its processes to ensure that proper consultation is carried out so this situation should not recur.

Agree action

24. The Council will apologise to Ms B and X for the faults I have found. It should pay £400 to X which is to reflect the missed education and the distress caused to him. It should pay Ms B £150 for the distress caused to her and it should refund her directly the cost of the school uniform. It should complete this within a month of the final decision.

Back to top

Final decision

25. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice to Ms B and X. The Council will apologise and make a payment to them both.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman