Ombudsman criticises Gloucestershire Council over education for boy with special needs

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has rebuked Gloucestershire County Council for failing to provide adequate education to a boy with special educational needs while he was out of school.

The Ombudsman, Tony Redmond, said that the council’s failings meant that, the child concerned received less than 50 per cent of the education which he was reasonably entitled to receive for a period of at least  four months

The child's mother complained that the council failed to provide sufficient education for her son after she had withdrawn him from school and the council named a school on his statement of special educational needs that was unable to accommodate him. The home tuition he received was insufficient to meet his needs and the child's mother said that she had to take time off work while Michael was educated at home and lost income as a result.

“The Council should have sought to ensure such full-time tuition was in place...and I do not accept that it was [the mother's] responsibility to have to request this. It is difficult for me to see that Ms Clarke had any alternative but to stay off work for this time with the consequent loss of earnings,” the Ombudsman said.

He added: “In these circumstances the onus was on the Council to find some way to deliver education provision to Michael so as to meet its obligations under the 1996 Education Act.”

The Ombudsman found the council guilty of maladministration causing injustice and recommended that the council should apologise to the child's mother, pay her £500 for distress, time and trouble, and £1,000 for loss of Michael’s educational provision. He also recommended that the council compensate the mother £5,000 for loss of earnings; and review its policy for provision of full-time tuition for pupils out of school for reasons other than exclusion or illness.