Latest news with #LocalGovernmentOmbudsman
Sky News
05-07-2025
- Health
- Sky News
Exclusive: Watchdog upholds nearly 100% of complaints about special educational needs in England
Why you can trust Sky News A watchdog is upholding 96% of the complaints it investigates about the provision of special educational needs in England, according to figures shared exclusively with Sky News. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is the last port of call for families who have exhausted the complaints process at their local council when they cannot get the right support for their children. Amerdeep Somal, who heads the organisation, told Sky News the number of complaints they are receiving about Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) has also risen almost 250% in the last five years. She said: "Some of those children will never reach their full potential. Often children lose years of their education and their development - sometimes at pivotal stages. "We're seeing complaints about not doing assessments for Education Health and Care Plans, not doing reviews in good time, support specified in the plan not being put into place in schools - and also poor communication so parents don't know what is happening. "There's been a huge surge in demand for plans. That means more complaints. That means more resources. More children need to be assessed, and that means more specialist input in schools. And that hasn't been keeping pace with the demands. "The situation can't continue as it is at the moment - we need radical and urgent reform." In Sefton, 15-year-old Jacob is one of the children who has fallen through the cracks. He has needs, including autism and ADHD, and has not had a consistent school place for four years. His mum, Geraldine Pollock, says schools keep saying they cannot meet his needs, sometimes even after enrolling him. Currently, he has been out of school for over nine months, and Geraldine spends her days trying to teach him at home to the best of her ability. "Absolutely horrific - that is the only word that I can use to describe it. I never, ever envisaged that, as a family, we would be put in this situation," she said. Geraldine says she almost lost her job because she had no option but to care for Jacob herself, and is still only able to work part-time. As soon as Jacob started at his latest school, she asked them to tell her upfront if they would not be able to meet his needs. "I thought, we cannot go back to the dark place that we've been in," she said. "They reassured me they had put everything in place - and they actually hadn't." "When I think of it now, I think 'How I could I be so naive?' I never once thought you would literally be left on your own," she added. David Moorhead is another special needs parent in Sefton, Merseyside, who helps run a group called Voice of the Families, which has come together to push for more help for their children. What started as an informal group for local parents to support each other has now ballooned to more than 500 families. David says he was "gobsmacked" by the number of parents just in his area who all feel their children have been failed. "Parents have left jobs, left careers just to be with their child. One mother had to cancel her own operation because there was no one to look after her child. "Going out for a family meal, going on holiday - these aren't realities because your child needs a lot of attention, a lot support in order for them to flourish. "They just push you off a cliff and you fall - and when you ask for help, it just doesn't come." Sefton Council said in a statement: "We are working with the Voice of the Families group - we have listened to them and understand their concerns and will continue to feed their experiences into our improvements as a service so we can better support families on this journey. "The demand for SEND support and the challenges in the system are seen across the country and we are working hard to meet the growing need for SEND support in Sefton. We have, and will continue to, pursue every avenue to expand our specialist SEND provision to meet the demand in our borough." The Department for Education said it accepts the SEND system needs to be reformed, and is currently consulting on what shape that will take. The government plans to publish a White Paper in the autumn setting out the reforms, and says it recognises the 'immense need' in the sector.
The Independent
04-07-2025
- The Independent
Council pays domestic abuse victim £1,600 after leaving him homeless for weeks
Waltham Forest Council has agreed to pay £1,600 to a domestic abuse victim after a watchdog found he had been left homeless for five weeks. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said the man first asked the council for help in January, saying he could no longer live with relatives who were abusing him, and for a second time in February. The council only acted in mid-March after legal action was threatened, offering hotel accommodation but no further action when the man said his abuser knew where he was staying. Ms Amerdeep Somal, of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: 'Waltham Forest Council let this man down when he approached it for help. 'This should not have happened, and I am pleased the council has acknowledged the gravity of its errors and accepted the recommendations I have made. I hope other survivors of domestic abuse will be treated better in future.' Councillor Ahsan Khan apologised, telling the BBC that the council took on board the report's findings, and would "ensure we use these to improve the service we provide for residents in the future". The council has not yet responded to The Independent 's request for comment. During his stay at the hotel, the council also failed to confirm a booking which again left him homeless for three nights, the report said. The man said he was assaulted during these three days. The man also lost his possessions because the council refused to store his belongings without a payment of £500 up front, which he could not afford, the investigation found. The investigation criticised the council for the three-month delay in accepting that it had a duty to support him with housing, as well as finding that the council failed to consider the man's vulnerability and the suitability of the hotel accommodation. The council agreed to apologise and pay the £1,600 to the man, the report said. It has also agreed to review its housing policies and improve how it handles cases involving vulnerable people.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Family awarded £5,300 after Wokingham Council education faults
A council paid out £5,300 to a family after a boy did not receive the appropriate support it had agreed he should have had for a Borough Council agreed to pay the money after multiple failures, including the boy not having the appropriate number hours of tuition for the entire 2022/23 academic had also agreed to supply the boy with a learning support assistant, who would help him for 30 hours a week, but his mother was left to supply that local authority was approached to comment following the Local Government Ombudsman's (LGO) findings. It was also found to have not provided a "substantive response" to the boy's mother until she had brought her case to the LGO's attention nearly a year LGO said the boy and his mother suffered a "significant injustice" as a result of the council's failings. The authority itself proposed £4,700 was given to the family in recognition of the provision the boy missed. It also will give £300 each to the mother and the boy to recognise the impact on them. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
29-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Slough Borough Council SEND assessment delays criticised in report
"Significant delays" by a council in assessing a child's special educational needs caused his mother "prolonged injustice", a government watchdog has Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ordered the Slough Borough Council to pay her £1,000 for delays and lack of report said the council's faults had caused her "significant distress and frustration".The BBC has approached the council for comment. The mother, named as Ms X in the ombudsman's report, asked the council to update her son B's education health and care plan (EHCP) in March is a legal document reviewed annually that sets out what a council has to do to meet a child's special educational wanted the council to update B's EHCP with information from a private occupational therapist's assessment she had sourced, and asked if it could reimburse her for the X then complained "shortly after" about the time the council had taken to update B's EHCP after a review in October 2023, and asked for a personal budget to pay for his occupational therapy. 'Especially severe' The council replied that B's annual review would take place in April, that she could discuss a personal budget then, and that it might need to take 14 weeks to reassess his council also said it had "not yet decided" whether to reimburse Ms X for the private occupational therapist's assessment.B's annual review took place in April and the council wrote to Ms X in June saying it had prepared an amended plan, that it would reimburse her for the occupational therapist's assessment and reassess B's response to her complaint, Slough Borough Council said it would consider her request for a personal accepted there had been delays in updating B's plan and securing a decision around the private occupational therapist the council did issue an updated ECHP in September 2024 the reassessment had still not taken place – and was ongoing at the time of the ombudsman's decision in March this council 'said waiting for the outcome of the private OT's review, had delayed this consideration'.The ombudsman ruled this delay was "especially severe" and the the council should pay Ms X £ addition, the ombudsman said there was a "lack of communication! from the council in explaining its decision whether to award Ms X a personal budget, and that there was a delay in deciding whether to reimburse her for the private said the council should pay Ms X a further £250 for these. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Lewisham mum of child too anxious to go to school wins £1.5k compensation
A mum of a child too anxious to attend school has been awarded £1,500 from a South London council after it failed to arrange alternative education. The unnamed girl, known only as B, missed out on classes for six months due to Lewisham Council's delays in offering her replacement tuition elsewhere. The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) said the situation caused the girl and her family 'distress, frustration and uncertainty', in a report from February. B's mum, known only as Dr X, informed the council that her daughter was unable to attend school due to anxiety in November 2023. The girl's school offered her mindfulness and lunchtime support session if she could attend. But alternative arrangements for her education in the meantime were not put in place. In December 2023, the school's attendance officer sent a letter to Dr X warning her she could be taken to court if her child continued to skip classes. Later the same month, B's doctor informed the school that she had a diagnosis of autism, which was a potential cause of her non-attendance at school. Lewisham told the LGO it took steps to arrange alternative education for B upon receiving the doctor's evidence. But it did not manage to secure replacement tuition for the girl until April 2024, four months later. As compensation, the LGO ordered the council to pay Dr X £1,500 and remind attendance staff of their responsibility to provide education for children who don't attend school full-time. The LGO said: 'We have found the council at fault for a delay in providing access to suitable provision after receiving a medical letter. This caused distress, uncertainty and frustration for Dr X and her child. 'The council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic financial payment and remind its staff of the Ombudsman's guidance on how we expect councils to fulfil their responsibilities to provide education for children who do not attend school full-time.' A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: 'We have reviewed the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's decision regarding Dr X's complaint and accept the findings. £We have apologised to the family for the disruption to their child's education, and acknowledge that we should have done better. 'We are committed to learning from this experience and are actively reviewing our attendance and hospital outreach programme policies and processes to ensure that children facing health challenges receive the support they need without unnecessary delays. "Safeguarding the wellbeing and educational development of all children in the borough remains our top priority.'
