Local authority ordered to pay families over complaints
It's over Special Education and Disabilities Needs provision
A council has been ordered to pay two families more than £6,000 to resolve their “injustice” after a watchdog found faults in its handling of requests for special educational needs provision.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) published two education complaints against West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) that were upheld by the body last week. It found a series of faults which led to the two children missing out on teaching.
WNC has apologised to the families and children affected and says it is “committed” to making improvements in its provision.
The Ombudsman found that the first child was recommended weekly counselling sessions and a referral to SEND support services (SSS) in an emergency review, after concerns were raised about him not being able to access the curriculum. The LGSCO said there was no evidence of the sessions taking place and there were also delays in recommendations from the SSS visit.
The student later stopped attending school from May to July 2024. The report found that WNC should’ve considered alternative placements for the child earlier as they were aware that the school was “no longer available and accessible” to him.
It said this led to the boy missing out on education and provision and also caused “distress, frustration and worry” to his parent. It has ordered the council to make a symbolic payment of £1,750 and apologise for its faults.
In the second complaint, the Ombudsman criticised the council for its delay in issuing an education health and care plan (EHCP) for the child and further delay in offering suitable provision. The student, referred to as ‘Child Y’, was medically unfit to attend school.
A referral was made to the council in July 2022, however it received confirmation at the time that the Hospital and Outreach education team could provide support. After the proposed support from the outreach team broke down, WNC did not follow up the situation until March 2023, despite the mother raising a complaint.
The report noted: “If the Council had kept this under review, and responded to Mrs X’s initial complaint, it would have established sooner there was no provision in place. It was clear that Child Y was not in school and the Council was aware there was no package from the Hospital and Outreach team.
“This was fault by the Council, and had it acted without fault, it would have established that an alternative provision duty was owed to Child Y from December 2022.”
WNC agreed to apologise for the fault and pay the family £5,300 in recognition of the delays, poor complaint handling and missed alternative education at “the key stages of development”.
A West Northants Council spokesperson said: “While we do not discuss individual cases, we acknowledge the complaints upheld by the Ombudsman. We apologise to the families and children affected and remain committed to making the necessary improvements and working collaboratively with parents and families to address their concerns and ensure that provision meets the needs of our children.