Council failed looked after child with special educational needs because of “bewildering” lack of basic knowledge, Ombudsman finds

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has recommended Worcestershire Council pay a remedy of more than £11,000 after a child with special educational needs missed out on five and a half terms of education due to failures by the authority.

The watchdog described it as “incomprehensible” that staff dealing with the child’s education provision could have “such a poor understanding of the law around special educational needs and disabilities and their duties towards children in their care”.

Outlining the background to the case, the Ombudsman said the child, who lived with a relative as part of a kinship care arrangement, was no longer able to attend mainstream schooling because of their unsupported education and behavioural needs.

Despite “numerous professionals” fighting to help the child, including an educational advocate and social care officers from the council whose roles were specifically to support looked after children’s education, the council failed to find a suitable school placement for them.

The report noted that the process of finding a new school for the child was “beset by delays and a lack of understanding” of the Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process.

The Ombudsman said: “The SEN team admitted it was unaware of its powers to name certain types of schools in a child’s EHC Plan. This led to them naming the child’s mainstream school in the plan, as they had not sourced a special school, when every party agreed mainstream schooling was not suitable for the child.”

The council took more than a year longer than the law allows to update the child’s EHC Plan.

During this period, it approached special schools with an out-of-date record of the child’s needs when it enquired about spaces, the report found.

The Ombudsman noted that the council also failed to keep the child’s carer informed throughout the process, and failed to ask for her views on the EHC Plans, despite the law defining her as a parent for these purposes.

The LGSCO observed: “Because the child’s needs remained unsupported for so long, their emotional wellbeing worsened at home to the extent they struggled to leave the house. The child became distressed and isolated from their peers and this had a great impact on their relationship with their carer and the carer’s own mental health, who admitted the placement was at risk of breaking down.”

Following the investigation, Worcestershire agreed to apologise to the relative and pay a combined remedy of £11,060 for the child’s missed education and support and for the injustice caused.

Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “This child had a difficult start in life and, as corporate parents, the council had an even greater duty to ensure their welfare and educational needs were met.

“This is a classic case of a child falling through the cracks, despite being on the council’s radar for years, and despite the best intentions of the professionals they came into contact with.

“It is incomprehensible that staff dealing with the child’s education provision, working in an education department, could have such a poor understanding of the law around special educational needs and disabilities and their duties towards children in their care. They also failed to act on the concerns raised by its specialists for looked after children. Not knowing they could specify the type of school is basic knowledge and it is bewildering staff didn’t know their remit."

She added: “I hope the work the council has been doing with the Department for Education and the NHS to improve its SEND services, plus the additional recommendations I have made, will ensure it has better oversight of all children with Special Educational Needs in the future.”

Cllr David Chambers, Cabinet Member for Education at Worcestershire County Council, said: "The council take all complaints, as well as investigations and findings from the Local Government Ombudsman, very seriously.

“We would like to apologise to the family involved in this case.

“We fully accept the recommendations of the report. We are committed to working together as a genuine partnership, with our families at the heart of this partnership, to ensure meaningful improvements are made for all children with SEND and EHCPs in Worcestershire and that they receive the support they need and deserve.

“Training provided under our SEND improvement plan will be reviewed to ensure improved practices can be taken forward.”

Lottie Winson