Overview:

Key to names used

• Mr and Mrs X - The complainants
• J  - Mr and Mrs X’s child
• S  - J’s sibling

Summary

Mr and Mrs X complained the Council failed to support their child, J’s, special educational needs and did not provide them with an appropriate educational placement for two years.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended)

To remedy the injustice caused to J and Mr and Mrs X we recommend the Council:

• pay Mr and Mrs X £5,125 to be used for J’s benefit to recognise the impact of the lost education on J and the effect on J’s wellbeing;

• pay Mr and Mrs X £1,000 to recognise the distress and harm caused to J by the Council’s failure to provide an appropriate school; and

• pay Mr and Mrs X a further £1,000 to recognise the frustration, distress, uncertainty and eroded trust in the Council caused to them.

To ensure the same faults do not happen again we recommend the Council:

• provide us with the confirmation of the approved budget for the specialist units and special school it has planned, to meet its sufficiency duty to provide educational provision for children with SEN;

• share the learning from this complaint with all staff members who are responsible for reviewing, amending, finalising and issuing EHC plans;

• remind relevant staff of the Council’s powers and responsibility to name an appropriate school, or parental preference school in a child’s EHC plan – especially where drift and delay is likely in finding an appropriate school placement; and

• remind relevant staff of the Council’s duty to ensure special educational provision is being provided where it has delegated the provision to another body.

To put things right for others affected by the same issues we recommend the Council:

• review the consultation process for each of the eight children who are without an appropriate school placement and ensure the Council has taken all available action to secure an appropriate placement for each child. If the Council identifies any fault in its actions leading to injustice it should remedy it in line with our guidance on remedies; and

• write to each of the eight children’s parents or guardians. It should inform them that our investigation into a complaint from another family identified fault by the Council for failing to provide an appropriate school placement for a child. It identified their child may also have been affected by the fault and therefore it has reviewed their child’s case to see if they were similarly affected. It should tell them the finding of that review and signpost the parent or guardian to us if they remain dissatisfied.

The Council has accepted our recommendations to remedy the complaint.

Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 7 June 2023.

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