Council's 'adverse impact' on mother of SEND child

A mother suffered "adverse impact" because a council did not fulfil its duty of providing support for her child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), an investigation has found.

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) investigated a claim from the mother – referred to as Mrs X – who struggled to get her daughter to attend school regularly over a five-month period.

A continued plan to get her daughter - referred to as G - to reintegrate into school rather than consider specialist schooling, meant Bracknell Forest Council did not fulfil its duty to provide alternatives, the ombudsman ruled.

Mrs X said this had a "significant impact" on her daughter’s wellbeing and education, as well as causing her "avoidable inconvenience".

Despite evidence of an autism diagnosis and lack of attendance, Bracknell Forest Council did not consider whether there was an alternative to the "reintegration" plan.

The investigation found G's attendance declined from October 2022.

She was said to be suffering "school-based anxiety" that prompted Mrs X to contact the primary school in January 2023, when the child was in Year 5.

School staff, council officials and Mrs X decided to give G a reduced timetable for reintegration, and also discussed possibilities of SEND education.

Over the next few months it was agreed to moderately increase G’s timetable to near full-time.

However, by mid-March Mrs X raised concerns with the school about her increased difficulty in getting G to school.

G had been diagnosed with autism and Mrs X planned to apply for an education, health and care plan – a key document for SEND children outlining their support needs.

By April, the council was aware there may be an issue with getting G to return to school, and of her diagnosis, but at this point it was still decided to pursue a plan to reintegrate G back to school.

The LGO said the council "did not consider and formally record its decision about whether it needed to provide alternative education provision".

This was especially wrong given the evidence of diagnosis, and a lack of attendance, it said.

This caused an "adverse impact" and injustice to Mrs X, who does not know whether her daughter had missed out on an education offer for the period, the LGO added.

Bracknell Forest Council agreed to pay £300 to Mrs X following the investigation.

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