New children and education complaint decisions

View online A weekly update on children and education complaint decisions Please note: our decisions are published six weeks after they are issued to councils, care providers and the person who has made the complaint. The cases below reflect the caselaw and guidance available at the time of issue and the individual circumstances of each case. North East Lincolnshire Council (22 011 092) Summary: Mr X and Mr Y complained about the way the Council conducted an investigation against them as foster carers. Mr X and Mr Y said the Council did not follow the correct process in making its decision and did not properly investigate their complaint about the matter. The Council did not follow the correct process when it substantiated an allegation Mr X and Mr Y had harmed their foster child. This caused them distress, uncertainty, and reputational harm. The Council should apologise to Mr X and Mr Y and pay them a symbolic amount of £1,500 for the injustice caused. Oxfordshire County Council (22 013 912) Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not offer an appropriate financial remedy after considering and upholding all her complaints through the statutory children's complaints process. We consider the findings of the Council's investigation were fair and appropriate. It accepted it had significantly delayed the process, with poor communication. There was a further element to Ms X's complaint raised after Stage Two. The Council did not offer a remedy for any further potential injustice addressing this as it said this was not part of its investigation. The Council has already made service improvements. The Council has accepted our recommendation for a revised financial remedy to recognise Ms X's distress caused by the matters the Council did investigate. London Borough of Croydon (22 016 950) Summary: The Council was not at fault for rejecting Miss B's complaint because it was too old. For the same reason, we have not investigated the substantive issues Miss B complains about. Devon County Council (23 002 030) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council's decision not to renew a Blue Badge. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Wiltshire Council (22 011 027) Summary: We upheld a complaint about delay in issuing Y's Education, Health and Care Plan. This caused avoidable distress and a loss of education provision. The Council will apologise and make payments for distress and missed education provision. Brighton & Hove City Council (22 012 046) Summary: Ms M complains the Council has not secured a 38-week residential special school place for her son, B, as ordered by the Tribunal in June 2022. The Council has failed to do so despite a nationwide search and B remains without a school place. This is fault. The Council should continue its search and continue to make support available until it finds a place or amends B's Plan. Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council (22 013 875) Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide any education for their child for 13 and a half weeks following exclusion from school. Ms X also complained their child missed free school meals during this time. Ms X also complained the Council failed to secure provision from their child's EHC Plan. We found fault with the Council failing to provide education to Ms X's child, failing to provide any funding for free school meals and delays in the EHC Plan process. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £100 for the distress, inconvenience and frustration caused, £1,350 for Y's missed education and £181.50 for Y's missed free school meals. North Northamptonshire Council (22 014 118) Summary: The complainant (Mrs X) said the Council's failed when getting professional advice during her son's (Y) Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and failed to comply with the Education Health and Care plan (EHCP) timescales. She also complained about delays with Personal Budget and direct payments and the Council's failure to arrange alternative education for Y from September 2022. We found the Council at fault in most areas of Mrs X's complaint. This fault caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The fault found in getting professional advice for EHCP did not cause Y and Mrs X injustice. We did not find fault with the Council's timescales when considering Mrs X's Personal Budget request. The Council agreed to apologise, make payments to recognise injustice caused to Y and Mrs X and advise Mrs X of her appeal rights. The Council also agreed some service improvements. Surrey County Council (23 000 947) Summary: There was delay in completing the Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment process for Y which caused avoidable distress. The Council will commission an educational psychologist's advice and issue a decision on whether or not to issue Y's EHC plan. If the decision is positive, it needs to complete the process of issuing Y's EHC plan. It will also apologise and make a payment to reflect avoidable distress. Worcestershire County Council (23 002 633) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the failure of the Council to provide tuition for Mrs X's child between October 2022 and March 2023. A legal bar prevents us from investigating the education provision offered where a person has appealed to the Special Education Needs and Disability Tribunal following the issuing of an Education Health and Care Plan. Herefordshire Council (22 013 899) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council's actions with regard to the care of the complaint's son. The complaint is late and there are no grounds to consider it now. Kent County Council (22 017 053) Summary: The Council was not at fault for how it responded to Miss B's historic rape disclosure in 2016 when she was in care. It discussed this disclosure with her and offered support, but she did not want to report it to the Police. The Council's handling of this disclosure was a matter of professional judgement which we cannot question. Cheshire East Council (23 001 116) Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council refusing to deal with a complaint. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The substantive matter concerns where Mr X's adult son should live. Neither this, nor the complaint about the Council's handling of the complaint, is separable from matters that have been subject to a court order. Bristol City Council (22 013 084) Summary: Ms X's son, Mr Z, missed out on several academic terms' worth of physiotherapy and hydrotherapy that he was entitled to receive, as it was in Section F of his Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). This injustice was caused by Council fault - mainly service failure - due to the national shortage of physiotherapists and lack of capacity at hydrotherapy services. In recognition of the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, pay Mr Z £1,050, pay Ms X £300 and carry out service improvements. Oxfordshire County Council (22 013 657) Summary: Mrs Y complains about the Council's failure to meet statutory timescales when assessing her son, D, for an Education, Health and Care Plan. Mrs Y also complains about subsequent delays in issuing the plan once the Tribunal made its order. We find the Council significantly exceeded the statutory timescales at times which caused avoidable frustration, time and trouble for Mrs Y. The Council will provide the remedy listed at the end of this statement. Bury Metropolitan Borough Council (22 015 586) Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide suitable alternate education for her child, Y, between March 2022 and May 2022 after Y became too unwell to attend school. The Council was at fault for failing to provide suitable alternative education to Y. The Council agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £650 for the benefit of Y's education. Surrey County Council (22 018 231) Summary: B's education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment is delayed because of a shortage of Educational Psychologists. The Council has apologised for the delay. The Council has accepted our recommendations to address the injustice caused. Bury Metropolitan Borough Council (23 002 546) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council conducted an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. This is because if Ms X is unhappy with the Council's decision, she has a right of appeal to a tribunal and it is reasonable for her to use it. Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (23 002 580) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fault on the Council's part in the complainant's daughter's Education Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA). This is because the Council has offered an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused to the complainant and investigation would not therefore be proportionate. City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (22 015 018) Summary: Mr B complained about excessive delay by the Council in dealing with his complaint about children's services through the statutory complaints procedure. We found the Council delayed excessively in completing two stages of the process which caused Mr B additional distress, harm and frustration. We welcome the Council's agreement to pay Mr B the £5,000 which he requested and implement the agreed action plan. The Council has agreed to keep Mr B informed regularly of progress with this and let us know the outcome of the review of its complaints service. Kingston Upon Hull City Council (23 002 564) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fault in the production and content of a child and family assessment. This is because we cannot achieve anything significant by doing so. North East Lincolnshire Council (23 002 735) Summary: We will not investigate Mr X's complaint about a data breach by the Council. This is because complaints about data issues such as this are best considered by the Information Commissioner's Office. Westminster City Council (22 004 972) Summary: Ms X complained about the Council's failure to support her when she reported domestic abuse. The Council was at fault for not properly considering whether she was homeless in 2019 and 2021, for failings in a child and family assessment in 2021 and a delay in making amendments after agreeing to do so. It should apologise and pay her £650 to recognise the uncertainty caused, and the additional time and trouble Ms X was put to. Gloucestershire County Council (22 014 028) Summary: Mrs C complained at the delay in the Council completing an education, care and health needs assessment for her daughter. Also, that it provided insufficient support for her daughter's education while it assessed her needs. We upheld both parts of the complaint. We found the faults resulted in delay before Mrs C's daughter received an education, health and care plan and costs to Mrs C in supporting alternative education provision. The Council has accepted these findings. At the end of this statement we set out the action it has agreed to take to remedy this injustice and improve services to avoid a repeat. Surrey County Council (22 016 917) Summary: Ms Y complained the Council did not arrange Y's educational provision under her Education Health and Care Plan ("EHCP") from September 2022 meaning she could not start college. The family also missed out on benefits linked to Y's education. We found the Council at fault. We recommended it apologises to Ms Y, pays £150 for time and trouble, pays £500 for distress and uncertainty, pays £1500 for Y's missed educational provision, pays £5263.33 to reimburse financial losses, arranges social skills provision for Y, updates Y's EHCP, and trains staff to prevent recurrence. Warwickshire County Council (23 001 931) Summary: A parent complained about the Council's failure to provide the result of a grammar school entrance test sat by her son. But we will not investigate this complaint because we are unlikely to find fault by the Council regarding the test result which caused the parent a significant injustice. Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School, Liverpool (23 003 153) Summary: We will not investigate Miss X's complaint about the Schools Admissions Appeal Panel's failure to provide her child with a place at this School. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault which caused her to lose out on a school place. Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council (22 010 721) Summary: The Council was at fault when it wrongly refused to escalate Ms X's complaint to stage two of the children's statutory complaints procedure and incorrectly referred her to the Ombudsman regarding two newer complaints. These faults led to frustration for Ms X and a missed opportunity to have her complaints properly investigated sooner. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise, pay Ms X £100 and investigate her complaint at stage two of the statutory complaints procedure. It has also agreed to carry out a service improvement to prevent recurrence of these faults in future. Bracknell Forest Council (23 000 851) Summary: We will not investigate Miss X's complaint about the Council's failure to follow the Children Act complaints' procedure. It has now agreed to do so. London Borough of Croydon (23 002 359) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a social worker contacting Mr X's employer to complain after he made a child safeguarding referral. Investigation by us would not be likely to achieve a worthwhile outcome. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (23 002 756) Summary: We will not investigate Mr X's complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council's decision not to investigate his substantive complaint until an ongoing police investigation has concluded. London Borough of Lewisham (23 003 664) Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X's complaint about a court report written by Council staff. This is because the issues Mr X raises cannot be separated from matters decided in court, so we have no remit to investigate. Sunderland City Council (22 012 913) Summary: Ms X complains the Council failed to provide suitable education for her son Y when he could not attend school. The Council is at fault as there is no evidence it satisfied itself that alternative education provision made for Y was meeting his needs. It also delayed in issuing Y's final and amended Education, Health and Care plans. The Council has offered a payment of £500 for the distress and disadvantage caused by the delays in issuing Y's final Education, Health and Care plan which is an appropriate remedy. It has agreed to apologise to Ms X and Y for the distress caused by the failure to check if the alternative provision met Y's needs and the delay in issuing his amended Education, Health and Care plan and make a payment of £800 to Ms X. Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (22 011 952) Summary: Ms B complained the Council failed to secure education and education, health and care provision for her daughter, D, from February 2022. Ms B said this led to D missing education and education, health, and care provision, and becoming isolated from her peers. The Council was at fault for delays securing D suitable education and education, health, and care provision. The Council will make a financial payment to remedy the injustice caused by its fault. Surrey County Council (22 012 280) Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council's handling of the funding and personal budget for the provision outlined in her son, F's Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. The Council was at fault. It delayed putting funding in place for F's provision during 2021 and then delayed setting up the personal budget in 2022. This caused Mrs X frustration, uncertainty and time and trouble, however there was no injustice caused to F as he continued to receive provision during this time. The Council agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mrs X to acknowledge the injustice caused to her. Stoke-on-Trent City Council (23 000 388) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with a complaint about how the Council's children's services has dealt with matters relating to the complainant's child who is in care. This is because previous complaints were made too long ago and the Council is currently considering a new complaint. Salford City Council (23 002 100) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council withholding important information from Mr X's probation officer and about losing documents relating to Mr X. This is because there are other bodies better placed to consider the complaints. Hertfordshire County Council (22 007 890) Summary: Mrs Y complains the Council failed to properly process an application for her daughter, E, to change schools. Mrs Y says the Council did not respond to the application and she was not given a right of appeal against the Council's refusal. Mrs Y also says she did not know there was a need to re-apply for the next academic year. There is no fault in the Council's handling of Mrs Y's application and there is no injustice because E did not miss out on a school place. Leeds City Council (22 013 817) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Council finding a school placement for Miss X's son. She says her son has received no education or special educational provision since moving to the area. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the faults accepted. Stoke-on-Trent City Council (22 014 044) Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council's actions, in respect of her son, C's special educational needs. We found the Council delayed in completing the assessment and producing an Education, Health and Care Plan and failed to provide education for C from 30 September 2022 to 4 January 2023. We consider the Council's offer of £1400 is a fair and proportionate way of resolving the complaint. Medway Council (22 014 705) Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about recommendations the Council made in a report as part of private court proceedings. We have no jurisdiction to investigate the contents of court reports or what happened in court. Surrey County Council (22 017 434) Summary: There was fault by the Council in failing to complete an EHC needs assessment within statutory timeframes. This has caused injustice. The Council will apologise, make a financial payment, consider putting in place interim provision and make service improvements. The complaint is upheld. Hampshire County Council (23 001 951) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about failure to provide play therapy as contained in an Education Health and Care Plan. This is because the complaint has been upheld and the Council has proposed a suitable remedy. An investigation by the Ombudsman would be unlikely to achieve anything more. Norfolk County Council (23 002 479) Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the home to school transport arrangements for the complainant's children. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation. Oxfordshire County Council (22 011 357) Summary: Ms X complained the Council has failed to provide a suitable education or alternative provision for her son, F, who has not attended school since April 2022. The Council was not at fault as it made appropriate efforts to meet with Ms X about F's education and has offered an initial package of alternative provision which Ms X has declined. There was fault in its communication and complaint handling which caused a delay in responding to her complaint for which it will apologise. We look at individual complaints about local public services and all registerable social care providers in England. We remedy injustice and share learning from investigations to improve services. When we find a council or care provider has done something wrong, we recommend how it should put it right. We are free to use and make our decisions independently. Find out more about us at www.lgo.org.uk Manage preferences or unsubscribe Contact us

 

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