The local government ombudsman has issued another warning to Suffolk County Council to improve provision for children who can’t go to school.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Michael King said it followed many previous recommendations to improve the service in the last 18 months and he was ‘disappointed’ to have to raise concerns again.
The latest ruling came after the mother of a young girl complained her daughter was not provided with suitable alternative education for six months after she became too anxious to attend her primary school.
However, the council did not have a way to check attendance and relied on the school making a referral, according to Mr King’s findings.
It also missed numerous opportunities to intervene, assess the girl’s needs and provide her with a suitable education.
The council has agreed to apologise to the mother for the delay and the failure to provide alternative provision for her daughter.
It will also pay the mother a combined £1,500 for her time and trouble and her daughter’s missed education.
The council has agreed to review its policies and procedures around alternative education and issue guidance and reminders to appropriate staff members to ensure services are co-ordinated.
It will also carry out mandatory in-person training for all managers and staff responsible for arranging alternative provision.
Mr King said: ‘We have issued numerous decisions about the council’s poor performance providing alternative education for children out of school for whatever reason.
‘Over that time the council has agreed to make a wide range of improvements to its services.
‘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.
‘While I acknowledge the council is making wide-scale changes to its service, I have issued this report to highlight that alternative provision needs to be improved as a priority, and those changes should have a long-term impact.’
