A Reading mum who complained that the council’s children’s services bungled her son’s move to a boarding school with special needs provision has had her claim rejected.
Problems began when her son’s condition deteriorated and he became unable to speak, which affected his education.
The boy had his education arranged by Reading Borough Council’s children’s services which were handed over to the council owned company Brighter Futures for Children in December 2018.
Council planning for his education began in 2016 through an Education Health and Care plan (EHCP). Since 2019 he was attending a special school.
When his condition deteriorated, his mum called for an EHCP review, which Brighter Futures for Children (BFfC) did in June 2020.
The mum complained that BFfC appealed the content of the EHCP and the school contained in it, which required costly legal action.
Her complaint was investigated by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO), but the ombudsman ruled in the council’s favour.
The legal action the mum took was appealing to a Special Educational Needs & Disabilities (SEND) Tribunal, which mediates disputes between families and local authorities over special needs decisions.
During the process, children’s services and the mum agreed her son should attend a full-time residential placement, which was confirmed in the tribunal.
The mum had to pay for representation at the tribunal, and was hoping to recover costs in compensation from Reading children’s services.
She was also unhappy with a delay in the transition between his special school and the boarding (residential) school he eventually went to, stating that the childen’s service failed to arrange education provision for her son and the postponement of his start at his new school.
The ombudsman ruled that the delayed transition was not the fault of Brighter Futures for Children, as this was arranged between the two schools.
The ombudsman stated that they could not investigate the delay in reviewing the EHC plan in 2019 and complaints about the lack of education during the tribunal process because the LGO cannot investigate cases which have already been appealed.
The mum received no compensation as a result of her complaints.
The child is now receiving education at the special needs boarding school.
A spokesperson for BFfC said: “We note the decision of the ombudsman in this case that there was no fault in how BFfC arranged the provision of the boy’s EHCP.
“The Ombudsman found BFfC took reasonable steps to arrange the provision in the boy’s EHCP and that delays in his starting at the new school were not due to any fault on the part of the BFfC.
“We always aim to work closely with parent carers, children and professionals to arrange the best possible support for children and young people with SEND in Reading.
“Our focus in all cases is to ensure the needs of the child are at the centre of everything we do.”
