Wandsworth Pupil Went Without Learning Support for Two Years
Council ordered to apologise and pay compensation
Boy should have received one-on-one tutoring. Picture: Tutoring Center
August 1, 2023
Wandsworth Council has been ordered to pay £2,550 after a student was left without one-to-one support for more than two years. The borough was ordered to apologise to the boy’s father, who said he felt his son was “often ignored” at the school.
The dad, named Mr X in the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report, claimed his son did not receive the support he needed to “progress academically”. He said he raised his concerns with the school many times.
In June 2019, an education, health and care plan (EHCP) for Mr X’s son, referred to as Child Y, said he should receive one-to-one support from a learning support assistant. Mr X complained the council failed to provide his son with one-to-one support since he began secondary school in September 2019.
Another version of Child Y’s EHCP issued in August 2022 also said he should receive one-to-one support from an assistant while in school. Mr X wanted to discuss the lack of one-to-one support at Child Y’s annual review which was arranged for January 2023, according to the report, but it did not take place and was later rescheduled for April.
The council told the ombudsman, after Mr X complained to the watchdog, Child Y had been taught in a class of 12 students with a “high staff to student ratio”. It said it “considered this to be equivalent” to one-to-one support.
But the report ruled, “Councils have a duty to secure the special educational provision in an EHCP. The council did not do so in this case. This meant that Child Y went without 1:1 LSA support from January 2021 to April 2023, a total of seven academic terms.”
It said a review of the case record provided by the council showed it had “consistently failed to give Mr X a straight answer about this lack of provision”. The ombudsman also found delays in arranging Child Y’s latest annual review and issuing his amended EHCP.
The watchdog investigated events from January 2021 as it said it was satisfied the council was aware of Mr X’s grievance from this date onwards.
It told the council to apologise to Mr X and pay him £2,550 overall, including £300 per term of “lost provision”. The report said, “This takes account of the fact Child Y has had a full-time education and has benefitted for a smaller class size and other support for his SEN [special educational needs].”
A Wandsworth Council spokesperson said, “We have fully accepted and acted upon the findings and recommendations of the independent review and have formally apologised for the impact on the child and family in this case.
“We are committed to ensuring children with SEND and their families are properly supported in Wandsworth, and through our ongoing improvement work – in close collaboration with our parent and carer forum – we are determined to ensure the experience of the child and family in this case are not repeated.
“In this spirit and as part of our improvement journey following our 2019 SEND inspection, we have invested in the service to increase staff capacity and reviewed and changed annual review processes and procedures to ensure we deliver a good service providing the right support to children and families at the right time.
“Although we are not complacent, our progress to date was reflected in the report and outcome of our local area SEND inspection revisit in June 2022. Notwithstanding this, we remain committed to identifying and delivering on transformation work which further improves the experiences of children SEND and their families in Wandsworth.”
Charlotte Lilywhite - Local Democracy Reporter