After a child’s 19-month absence from school due to unspecified reasons, a Northamptonshire council apologised to the family and offered more than £5,000 in compensation.
The nine-year-old child initially ceased attending school in April 2021 due to severe anxiety. West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) did not provide her with any educational resources until November of the following year.
When her mother, known as “Mrs. X,” filed a complaint, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) decided to look into it. It stated that by May 2022, an alternative education package ought to have been in place if there had been no delays in the process.
WNC has accepted the findings and said it is “sorry” it didn’t provide the right service.
The council ought to have released a final EHC plan in January 2022, according to the Ombudsman’s findings. It was really released in August, more than 27 weeks later. The council has not offered any educational resources throughout this period.
The statement continued, saying, “I think the Council would have likely agreed a personal budget for EOTAS by May 2022 if there had been no delays by the Council in the EHC process.”
As mandated by law, a Council must set up an appropriate education for a kid it knows is unable to attend school because of their exclusion, illness, or other circumstances. The Council knew that Y was not going to school and that Y was not receiving any instruction from the school.
“The evidence suggests that at the time, the Council failed to recognise that it had a duty to provide Y with alternative education. The Council now accepts that it was responsible for this.
This was incorrect and would have harmed Y’s growth and welfare.
The local government watchdog also discovered that, despite being aware of the student’s circumstances, the council gave the school incorrect advice to record her absences as “unauthorised.” Her mother sought expert counsel after learning that the council would file charges against her.
According to the LGO, Mrs. X experienced “distress” and “avoidable expense of seeking advice” as a result of WNC’s shortcomings.
In addition to £300 to recognise the mother’s “distress and frustration,” the council was ordered to pay £5,100 for failing to provide the mother with a sufficient education. It was also decided to implement a number of corrective measures for council shortcomings within a span of eight weeks.
“Improving the timeliness and quality of our education, health, and care plans continues to be a significant focus for us to address, to ensure our children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities have access to the right support at the right time,” stated Cllr Fiona Baker, cabinet member for children, families, education, and skills at WNC.
We acknowledge our error for not meeting the standards of service and agree to implement the Ombudsman’s suggestions. As a Council, we have been transparent about the difficulties we are facing in light of the rising demand and the effects it is having on our youth, young adults, and their families.
“We have been working hard to make improvements and implement change that will make a difference. We recently increased the number of specialist SEND places in the area and brought in a team of educational psychologists to reduce the number of overdue EHCP assessments, which is making positive progress.”
She continued by saying that in the previous three years, the council had received 40% more requests for EHCPs, and that this increase in requests was “considerably higher than that faced by other councils.” It also mentioned an additional £1.35 million in SEND funds that Cabinet authorised last month to carry out a strategy to transform alternative provision.
The council member went on, saying, “We understand that we are just getting started and it will take time for these changes to become ingrained, but we are dedicated to offering better services, and this additional investment will help us to achieve this.”
