Ombudsman “disappointed” to “again” highlight concerns with Suffolk’s SEND system
Ombudsman criticizes Suffolk County Council's SEND services after child misses six months of education due to anxiety.
The ombudsman is “disappointed” to “again” highlight concerns about Suffolk County Council’s SEND services.
A report published by the local government and social care ombudsman (LGSCO) today relays the experiences of a child who received no education for six months.
The girl, who is kept anonymous throughout the report, suffered from anxiety which kept her from primary school between November 2021 and April 2022.
Ombudsman Michael King said: “We are disappointed to have to again highlight our concerns about the council’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities service, having made many previous recommendations for improvement in the past 18 months.
“We have issued numerous decisions about the council’s poor performance providing alternative education for children out of school for whatever reason. Over that time the council has agreed to make a wide range of improvements to its services.
“While I acknowledge the council is making wide-scale changes to its service, I have issued this report to highlight that alternative provision needs to be improved as a priority, and those changes should have a long-term impact.”
The LGSCO has ordered the council to apologise to the child’s mother, and pay her £1,200 for the missed education and £300 for her trouble when pursuing the enquiry.
The LGSCO also made it clear this case was not a one-off, describing in its report “recurrent fault by this council in a number of our decisions over the last 18 months about alternative provision, covering a period of more than two years”.
Allan Cadzow, corporate director for children and young people at Suffolk County Council said: “We regret that failings in the system led to this child missing out on education. We apologise for the distress this has caused to the child and the family.
“In addition to the recommendations made by the ombudsman, which have been implemented, we have also introduced our own reforms in this area to strengthen the way we do things.
“This situation is far from acceptable, but we continue to work with urgency and commitment to reform the way we deliver SEND education.”
The ombudsman found that council professionals were aware of the child’s absence – particularly as a council-employed family support practitioner was involved.
The practitioner undertook a lot of work to address the child’s anxieties and mental health needs, yet the report explains: “This is admirable. However, this is not education.”
The child’s mother formally complained to the council in April 2022 and pointed out that the school’s education welfare officer knew about the absences months before.
The council said it had not received a referral to its alternative tuition service from the school and the council-based education welfare officer service is not used by the school because it is an academy.
Education welfare officers work with parents and children to support regular school attendance.
The ombudsman explained in its report: “Academies are independent of local councils. However, councils remain accountable for ensuring pupils who cannot attend school receive suitable full-time education, regardless of the type of school they attend.
“The council should not just rely on schools to make referrals. It needs to ensure a mechanism is in place to oversee attendance, which in this case it didn’t.”
The ombudsman recommended the council review its policies and procedures for providing education for children who need alternative arrangements, including because of illness.
Staff members involved in arranging alternative education should also be given mandatory in-person training and issued written reminders of what is required of them, according to the LGSCO.
Last Tuesday, families who felt “failed” by Suffolk’s SEND system protested outside Suffolk County Council’s offices in Ipswich.
They handed a letter to council representatives recounting the experiences of a mother of two children with SEND, who had seven LGSCO complaints upheld and claimed she has PTSD as a result of the difficulties she faced with the system. Protesters also handed over 60 impact statements recounting other families’ experiences.
The county council announced today it has commissioned Anthony Douglas to work with the council, an independent special advisor with 20 years’ experience of supporting young people with SEND in senior roles.
A press release by the council explains Mr Douglas’ role will be to “further strengthen reform of SEND services” and he “ will work with the council initially for six months beginning in April 2023”.