Cornwall Council to review alternative education provision after ombudsman warning

The move has been made after a damning Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) report criticised the council for a lack of oversight over its outsourcing of education services.

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The concerns follow the case of a boy in the county who was not provided with alternative education for months after he was unable to attend his mainstream school due to mental health problems.

In the county alternative education for children with health issues is outsourced to Wave Multi-Academy Trust and education is provided by the academy Community and Hospital Education Service (CHES).

But it emerged that the boy was left out of education for five months in 2019. The council was found to have delayed his receipt of education by not directing CHES to provide his schooling.

The council had instead asked the boy’s school to make the referral to the service. The council was found to rely on schools to make referrals to CHES and leaving it to the academy to decide if there is a duty to provide education.

But the ombudsman has reminded Cornwall Council that it is the authority ultimately responsible for its outsourced services.

Ombudsman Michael King found that the council had been wrong to suggest that the boy’s school was responsible for monitoring his alternative education provision.

“Because the council did not have proper oversight of the process, the boy was left without education for four months. The council relied on schools to make decisions for which it had a statutory duty to make,” said King.

“While councils can contract out services to independent providers, they cannot contract out responsibility and remain ultimately answerable for any problems which may occur."

Recommendations made by King to Cornwall, including ramping up its scrutiny of alternative provision, have been accepted by the council.

This includes reviewing its policies and procedures to ensure it is clear around its responsibilities to support children who are unable to attend school.

It will also conduct an audit of children not attending school or not attending full time, to ensure they are receiving suitable education.

In addition, the council has agreed to apologise to the boy and his family and pay them £1,200 to acknowledge the gap in his education.

“I’m pleased Cornwall Council has accepted all my recommendations and hope the changes it will now make will improve services and accountability for those services for young people in the county,” said King.

Cornwall Council has been contacted for comment.