LGO hits out at councils over duties where child not in school full time

Some local authorities either misunderstand or pay less attention than they should to their statutory duty to make arrangements to educate a child where there are reasons for them not being in school full time, the Local Government Ombudsman has said.

In a report called Out of school….out of mind? that was based on a review of recent cases, the LGO claimed that some children were missing out on crucial years of education as a result, and that this could disadvantage them for the rest of their lives.

The LGO cited a range of mistakes that local authorities often made, such as “by assuming they:

• have no duty to act because the case does not concern illness or exclusion from school
• can provide the minimum entitlement for sick children of five hours teaching a week
• have no responsibility for a child because he or she remains on the roll of a particular school, or
• are doing enough but fail to provide interim arrangements when there is a delay in organising provision.”

The report makes a series of recommendations for councils. The LGO said they should:

• “consider the individual circumstances of each case and be aware that potentially a council may need to act whatever the reason for absence, even when a child is on a school roll
• consult all the professionals involved in a child’s education and welfare, taking account of the evidence in coming to decisions
• choose, based on all the evidence, whether to enforce attendance or provide the child with suitable alternative education
• keep all cases of part-time education under review with a view to increasing it if a child’s capacity to cope increases
• adopt a strategic and planned approach to reintegrating children back into mainstream education where they are able to do so, and
• put whatever action is chosen into practice without delay to ensure the child is back in education as soon as possible.”

The report comes in the same month that the government clarified – through a change in the legislation – that education provision to children out of school must be full time.

Dr Jane Martin, LGO and Acting Chair of the Commission for Local Administration in England, said the change in the law was a helpful development that made local authorities’ duties much clearer and strengthened the rights of children.

She said: “It can be really serious for a child if they don't get the opportunity of a good education. They can struggle to get qualifications and find it harder to get work. The law is clear that all children should get an education that is suitable to their needs – and that includes those who for special reasons are not going to school. But too often we find they are the victims of injustice.

“Councils need to understand what commonly goes wrong and learn from good practice. Otherwise, more children will miss out. We know that councils will want to get this right and we want to help them."

A copy of the report can be downloaded from the LGO website.