LGO slams “continual failure” of council to support boy with learning difficulties

The Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has sharply criticised a local authority for its “continual and repeated failure” to support a boy with learning difficulties.

The LGO said the boy’s mother had had to complain to it three times in the past two years to get Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council to provide the proper support for her son, who has autism and learning difficulties.

The Ombudsman’s investigation into the most recent complaint found Kirklees at fault for not properly monitoring whether the boy was getting the support he needed, and so failing in its duty to provide what was set out in his Statement of Special Educational Needs.

In 2016 the LGO found the council’s delays in finalising his statement when he moved school phases meant he had to be home educated and did not receive the support his statement said he needed for social development for two terms.

In 2017, the Ombudsman upheld a complaint that Kirklees failed to provide occupational therapy and some speech and language therapy, following a Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal order, which specified that which he needed in his statement.

The mother contacted the Ombudsman for a third time in 2018 stating the council was still not providing all of the boy’s support. He had not been given part of his speech and language therapy for four-and-a-half terms, and had missed out on behavioural therapy for one and a half terms.

Kirklees has now agreed to:

• pay the mother £200 for the unnecessary distress and time and trouble caused by having to bring the complaint
• pay her £400 for the term and a half of behaviour therapy her son missed
• pay a further £400 to acknowledge the cumulative effect on her son of the extended period the council has taken to provide the support specified
• review its procedures used to monitor and ensure the delivery of special educational provision.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Michael King, said: “This continual and repeated failure by Kirklees council to provide this boy with support has had a significant, cumulative effect on his education.

“At no time since 2015 has the boy had all the support he needs, and this has led to the mother losing faith in the council and the support it will offer her son both now and in the future.

“While I welcome the council’s readiness to accept the recommendations laid out in our report, it should not have taken the mother to complain to my office three times to get that support put in place.

“I want to encourage councils to have a mature and reflective attitude to complaints and use the learning gained to improve local services. I hope the council will use this report, and the previous decisions we have made, to reassess the service it offers to families and put in place measures that will prevent this sort of situation happening again.”