Council failings leave autistic child without education for a year, ombudsman report finds

The mother of the boy asked LGO to investigate after her son received “no direct teaching” in the online lessons that were offered to him when he stopped attending school in June 2021.

Despite evidence that this form of education was “unsuitable” and not based on his needs, the council claimed that it was “appropriate” during the eight months that it was in place, up until February this year, when he stopped attending the online lessons.

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During the period between February and June, the ombudsman found that the boy received “no education at all”.

The council has been asked to pay the mother £5,000 for the “significant impact” her son’s lack of education has had on her daily life and employment.

The ombudsman's report states that it is “inexplicable” that the council failed to provide alternative provision when the school notified it in February and March that it could not meet the boy’s needs and that he was not accessing the online provision.

Further faults were found by the ombudsman's investigation over the six-month delay in issuing the boy with an education and health care plan (EHCP), which should have taken 20 weeks.

Reasons cited by the council were a “national shortage of educational psychologists” and “a lack of capacity in the special educational needs team”, which the LGO acknowledged as “beyond the council’s control”.

But the council’s failure to issue an EHCP within the statutory timescales is a “service failure” and they should have commissioned a private educational psychologist report sooner, the report states.

As a result, the council has been asked to reimburse the mother £2,200 for the cost of the private educational psychologist that she commissioned to help her with her son’s EHCP.

LGO Michael King said that councils “have a duty” to ensure alternative education is provided and they cannot delegate this duty to schools or other providers.

He added: “I am concerned that the evidence I have seen during this investigation suggests officers do not always understand their obligations in this respect.”

Oxfordshire County Council has apologised to the mother and her son.

A spokesperson from the council said: “The boy’s education and wellbeing is important to us, as is our commitment to every child and young person in the county. We are determined to give them the very best start in life.

“We have already started to implement the measures requested by the ombudsman and will continue to do so. We’re introducing an information system that links schools and education teams better. This represents a significant investment in the wellbeing of every child in Oxfordshire. Briefings and training are being delivered to school leaders and council officers regarding our responsibilities to medically unfit children. These communications will continue to be regularly reviewed and updated as required.”