Decision details
Decision to Award Compensation as Recommended by the Local Government Ombudsman - JUN19/CMDN/19
Decision Maker: Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, Education, Skills and the University
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Purpose:
Exempt Annex 1 is NOT FOR PUBLICATION in accordance with paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Schedule 12A of Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972 in that it contains information relating to an individual and information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual. The public interest test has been applied to the information that is contained in the Exempt Annex to this Decision Notice and it is considered that the need to retain the information as exempt outweighs the public interest in disclosing it because it would reveal details around the personal circumstances of individuals.
The Cabinet Member authorised the payment of £11,500 in line with the settlement amount recommended by the Local Government Ombudsman.
Reasons for the decision:
The Local Government Obundsman (LGO) investigated a complaint from a family who were allocated place in a mainstream school but the school refused admission as they could not meet the child’s special educational needs. The child was out of school for a significant period as the council did not identify immediately the child as missing from education. There was no documented communication coming from the parent to the Local Authority during this time about finding a school place. Had the child been identified as missing, an appropriate alternative placement would have been delivered and the LGO felt that as a result there was injustice to the child.
The LGO also felt that the Council had not dealt with parental complaint over this situation in a timely manner. As a result, the LGO has decided that compensation would be payable over the education lost to the child but also the anxiety this has caused the family. The LGO also recognised in this compensation, the financial difficulty faced by the parent and the time and trouble in pursuing the matter. This request is therefore for authority to make a payment in the sum of £11,500 in accordance with the LGO's recommendations.
Following this case, we have reviewed our processes around children missing from education. There has been significant improvement in our capacity and approach to dealing with these issues since this case occurred.
Alternative options considered:
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The Local Government Ombudsman cannot make the Council do what is recommended in their Notice of Decision , however if the Council were to disagree with the recommended remedy the Ombudsman may be required to write a formal report in response to this. Where a formal report against a Council is issued the Ombudsman will make this public unless there are special reasons not to. |
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The complainants made a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman about the Council’s decision and the subsequent investigation has identified evidence of fault and recommended the Council take steps to remedy the injustice. The Council agrees with the recommendation proposed by the Ombudsman. |
Interests and Nature of Interests Declared:
None.
Background Documents:
None.
Publication date: 24/06/2019
Date of decision: 24/06/2019
Accompanying Documents:
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