Devon County Council denied a teenager with severe disabilities a place at a specialist college because officers failed to follow the proper procedure, an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has found.

Although a charity stepped in to pay for the young man’s education, the family has been warned that this funding could be removed at any time.

The LGO has now recommended that the council re-examine the boy’s education provision in time for the next school year, and use all relevant criteria when coming to a new decision.

The family complained to the LGO that officers at Devon County Council failed to consider relevant information when they decided where the teenager should attend post-16 education.

The teen, who uses a wheelchair, applied to study at a local college and also at an out-of-area specialist college and initially told his caseworkers that he would prefer to study locally. When he changed his mind, the council reviewed his options, but decided not to fund the placement at the specialist college. The decision was taken without taking into consideration all the relevant information, including his welfare and social care needs.

The panel did not consider an up-to-date occupational therapy assessment and a subsequent assessment queried the extent to which the local college could make suitable adjustments for the teenager’s needs.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said:

“Devon County Council should have looked at the entirety of this boy’s needs and not just at his education in isolation.

“Officers failed to consider his health and welfare and failed to comply with their own policy on how a placement decision is made.

“A charity stepped in to fund the placement, but because of the uncertainty of how long this funding would last, the family have been left with the uncertainty over how long the teenager would be able to stay at his new college.”

To remedy the injustice, the LGO has recommended that the Joint Agency County Panel - a multi-agency group of professionals who provide health and social care advice on education decisions - should reconsider supporting the teenager’s current placement at college taking into account all relevant information. The LGO has also recommended that the council send the family a written apology

The council should also commission an external investigation of the social care background to the complaint to drive improvement and ensure it does not happen again. The council should also pay £500 to the young man for the distress caused by the uncertainty in the way the decision was made and £500 to the teen’s mother for the time and trouble and distress associated with making the complaint. The LGO has also said the council should report back on the outcome of its external review.

Article date: 03 April 2014