'Council delays lost our son his SEN school place'

The family of a five-year-old non-verbal autistic boy said he has lost his school place and has been "denied education" due to council failures.

Oscar was due to start school in September but faced council delays in assessments and did not receive an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in time.

His family, from Hastings, won their case at a tribunal, which ordered East Sussex County Council to carry out an assessment and issue an EHCP.

The council said it had seen a significant rise in the number of requests for EHCPs and was committing to working with parents and carers to ensure children's needs were met.

His parents started the process of securing a plan 12 months before he was due to start school.

But they were left "baffled" when the council "refused to even assess him" and said they were "forced" to take legal action.

His father Alex said: "No family should have to go to court simply to secure the right to an education for their child."

By the time his EHCP was issued, he had lost his place and a full year of schooling.

Alex said: "You have to first of all get used to having an autistic child, and then you do, and then suddenly the battle is not that, the battle is then the system."

His mother Maria said the issue had made their lives miserable and added: "It is like they want to set you to fail."

Alex added: "You are either angry, or you are sad, or you are trying to not think about it."

ESCC said it works with parents and carers of children with special needs to find an education setting which can meet their needs and give them the opportunity to achieve the best possible outcomes.

It said it could not comment on individual cases but added: "Although there is a much better availability of special school places in East Sussex than in many parts of the country, we are unable to meet the demands of all parents.

"But our priority remains to ensure that children with the greatest needs are offered specialist provision in a timely manner."

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