Suffolk's educational provision for SEND children has come under fire again after a young girl had no education for six months.
Suffolk County Council was ordered to apologise to the child's mother and pay £1,200 for the missed education and £300 for her trouble when persuing the inquiry.
In a new report the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) said it is "disappointed" to "again" highlight concerns about Suffolk SEND services.
The LGSCO made it clear this case was not a one-off, describing in its report “recurrent fault by this council in a number of our decisions over the last 18 months about alternative provision, covering a period of more than two years”.
The child suffered from anxiety which kept her from primary school between November 2021 and April 2022.
The ombudsman found that council professionals were aware of the child’s absence – particularly as a council-employed family support practitioner was involved.
Work took place to address child's anxiety which the report called "admirable" but "not education".
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A formal complaint was made by the child's mother in April 2022.
The council said it had not received a referral to its alternative tuition service from the school and the council-based education welfare officer service is not used by the school because it is an academy.
The report said: “Academies are independent of local councils. However, councils remain accountable for ensuring pupils who cannot attend school receive suitable full-time education, regardless of the type of school they attend.
“The council should not just rely on schools to make referrals. It needs to ensure a mechanism is in place to oversee attendance, which in this case it didn’t.”
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The ombudsman recommended the council review its policies and procedures for providing education for children who need alternative arrangements, including because of illness.
Ombudsman Michael King said: “We are disappointed to have to again highlight our concerns about the council’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities service, having made many previous recommendations for improvement in the past 18 months."
The council apologised and also announced that it had commissioned Anthony Douglas, an independent specialist advisor, to work with them for six months from April.
Mr Douglas’ role will be to “further strengthen reform of SEND services”.
Allan Cadzow, corporate director for children and young people at Suffolk County Council, said: “We regret that failings in the system led to this child missing out on education. We apologise for the distress this has caused to the child and the family.
“In addition to the recommendations made by the ombudsman, which have been implemented, we have also introduced our own reforms in this area to strengthen the way we do things.
“This situation is far from acceptable, but we continue to work with urgency and commitment to reform the way we deliver SEND education.”
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