Council failed to provide school place or alternative provision outside the home when child with EHC Plan moved to its area, Ombudsman finds

The report also highlighted the council’s failure to consult independent specialist placements, to review the EHC Plan and to consider the “full range of support available” to families with disabled children.

As a result, the child in the case missed out on education, social and leisure opportunities for two terms and speech therapy for three terms, while the child’s parents had to take on additional caring responsibilities.

The man behind the complaint, Mr X, complained that the council failed to provide suitable full-time education and special educational provision in his child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for two terms after they moved into the council area and were without a school place.

He said Y missed provision, their social skills deteriorated and he was concerned about Y’s reintegration into school after a long gap.

Mr X said Y’s mother suffered “stress and inconvenience” as she had to stay at home and could not work.

Mr X also complained that Y did not receive speech and language therapy for a year.

Analysing the complaint, the Ombudsman said: “The process of transferring an existing EHC Plan is set out in SEND Regulation 15. The old council correctly transferred the EHC Plan to the new council in line with Regulation 15(2).”

The report noted that the council had to inform Mr X within six weeks:

• That the Plan had been transferred;
• Whether it proposed to make an EHC needs assessment;
• When it proposed to review the EHC Plan in accordance with s.44 Children and Families Act 2014.

The Ombudsman found that although the council did confirm within six weeks the Plan had been transferred, it did not advise whether it proposed to make an assessment or when it proposed to review the Plan. This was fault.

The Ombudsman continued: “The council had to review the Plan within 12 months of the previous review or 3 months of the transfer. It failed to do either. This was fault and a breach of SEND Regulation 15(5).”

The report noted that as it was not practicable for Y to continue to attend his old school after the move, then under SEND Regulation 15(6) the council had to arrange for Y’s “attendance at another school or other institution appropriate for him or her until such time as it is possible to amend the EHC plan”.

The Ombudsman said: “It is not clear when the council did send consultations to schools, but it appears this may only have happened after Mr X made a formal complaint as the stage one response in Spring 2024 refers to a delay due to staff shortages and suggests consultations were recent. This was fault. Consultations should have been sent in December / January. The council only consulted unit provision, not special schools, although Mr X had indicated they were satisfied with both options. This was fault.”

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman observed it would have expected the council to have sought to offer speech therapy sessions outside the home, during the period a school place was being sought. Failure to do so was fault.

Once Y started school, the Ombudsman found that the council still failed in its duty to secure all the special educational provision in the EHC Plan, including speech therapy.

To remedy the injustice caused to Mr X, the council was recommended to:

• Pay Mr X £4,800 to reflect the two terms of missed education and the impact this had on the family.
• Pay Mr X £600 to reflect three terms of missed speech therapy.
• Liaise with Mr X, and the school, to ensure an annual review of the EHC Plan is arranged.
• Check with the school, and Mr X, that all special educational provision in the EHC Plan is fully in place and take action to secure any missing provision or therapy.

Making recommendations more widely, the Ombudsman asked the council to:

• Ensure that if it has children currently awaiting a place in specialist provision that consultations have been sent to the full range of provision, including independent provision, when the council is not able to meet need from within its own settings, with a view to placing pupils as soon as possible.
• Have a process in place to track and regularly review cases of children missing education, to include all children currently being held on the council’s waiting list for a specialist placement, to ensure appropriate action is taken in a timely way.
• Ensure management oversight of such cases is in place and that EHC Plan reviews continue to take place in line with statutory duties.
• Ensure all relevant staff are aware of the range of support available to children with SEN and disabilities, and parent carers, and that appropriate referrals and signposting between departments is in place.
• Have a process in place to consider how special educational provision in an EHC Plan can be delivered to pupils unable to attend a setting.
• Ensure reviews of sufficiency of places (in schools and alternative provision), and of the local offer, are on track and confirm to the Ombudsman when the council last carried out such reviews and when the next review is due.

North Northamptonshire Council has been approached for comment.

Lottie Winson