Northants local authority fined over finding a school place for child with SEND needs
The council has issued an apology
A council has been told to pay a family more than £6,000 after failing to provide a primary school pupil who struggled to attend classes any alternative education for around six months.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found several faults in the way West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) handled a parent’s request for an education health and care (EHC) plan and alternative education for their daughter.
The girl, who was attending primary school at the time, was experiencing anxiety about attending lessons and had also been referred for an assessment for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Her parent, referred to by the Ombudsman as ‘Mrs S’, said she had been out of full-time education since April 2023 and only began a tuition package in February 2024, despite the authority being made aware she was refusing to attend.
The council has apologised to the family involved and said it remains ‘committed’ to making improvements to its SEND service.
The council first advised the child’s school in April to gradually increase her attendance by increments of ten minutes after receiving notice that she was only attending the classroom for a maximum of one hour a day. Mrs S contacted the Council about her daughter’s lack of education to ask for alternative education programmes and presented letters from their GP saying the child needed support.
At a meeting with the council and the school’s special educational needs co-ordinator (Senco) in January 2024, it was noted that the girl’s “mental health and anxiety has reached a point where she is unable to attend school as it is too much for her mental wellbeing and she requires additional help and support”.
It added that she had not accessed her classroom for learning or had any peer interactions since summer 2023 and attempts to boost her hours had caused “increased anxiety and distress”. In February 2024, the council started a tuition package for the pupil, before she started at a special school in September.
Mrs S also complained to the Ombudsman that her request to the council to carry out an EHC needs assessment was delayed. The student’s final report was issued nine months late, causing her to miss two and a half school terms without the appropriate provision laid out in her plan.
The local government watchdog found it was at fault for the delays in issuing the plan for the pupil, who it referred to as ‘X’.
Though it did not criticise the council’s original decision to advise the school to gradually increase the girl’s contact hours in May 2023, it did find that from September 2023 the authority could’ve done more to make sure she was in education and had alternative options.
It concluded: “For the missed provision of the contents of X’s EHC Plan for around two and a half terms, the Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs S of £4,225. For the missed provision of any alternative education for X, for around a term and a half, the Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs S of £2,225.”
It also asked WNC to provide the family with a letter apologising for the faults and making a further payment of £250 for Mrs S’s “avoidable time and trouble”. In total, the family will be paid £6,700, which the Ombudsman says should be used for the girl’s ‘educational benefit’.
A WNC spokesperson said: “While we do not discuss individual cases, we acknowledge the outcome of the LGO investigation.
“We apologise to the family affected and remain committed to making the necessary improvements and working collaboratively with parents and families to address their concerns.”