LGO calls on Isle of Wight to review procedures for meeting SEN statements

The Local Government Ombudsman has recommended that Isle of Wight Council review its procedures for ensuring that statements of special educational needs are met, after finding the local authority guilty of maladministration.

The LGO also called on Isle of Wight to review the supervision of teachers employed by the council who work in various locations “such that everyone concerned is clear what they are required to do, and when and where they should carry out their duties”.

The recommendations came after the Ombudsman, Jane Martin, ruled that the council had failed to provide fully what was on the statement of special educational needs for a visually impaired girl, in contravention of s. 324 of the Education Act 1996.

This statement had been the subject of an order on 10 April 2008 from the Specialist Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

Mrs Bentley (not her real name) complained that Isle of Wight had failed to provide what was on the statement for her nine-year-old daughter, Julie, who is registered blind with no sight in one eye and limited vision in the other.

The council was required to provide ten hours input a week from a qualified teacher for the visually impaired. The council’s officers accepted that they had to provide what was on the statement, even though they thought it was excessive.

However, Isle of Wight’s records showed that it consistently failed to deliver the requirement in full. “It seems clear from the records that considerably less time was spent at Julie’s school than the statement required,” the LGO found.

The Ombudsman said only some of the missed provision was down to circumstances beyond the council’s control. She accepted that it can be difficult to cover for unexpected absences such as sickness, but added that there was evidence “to show that the council could have provided greater cover than it did”.

Martin concluded that Isle of Wight failed to make proper arrangements for delivery of the provision and the timetable for the designated teacher did not specify precisely how the provision should be met.

She added that there was evidence that the close liaison between agencies recommended in the statement did not always happen. However, the Ombudsman added that there was insufficient evidence to attribute the blame for that solely to the council.

The council has also agreed to pay Mrs Bentley £1,500 as compensation for her distress, time and trouble and £3,500 to provide additional help for Julie to enable her to make up for the provision she has lost.