Council pays boy £7,200 after year-long delay to find school place

A schoolboy and his mum have been paid a total of £7,500 by Middlesbrough Council following a year-long delay to assign him a school place. The boy's mum, known only as Miss X,

complained that the council delayed arranging a school place or alternative education provision for her son (Child Y). Now, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found fault

with the council for the delay as well as for its handling of the complaint. The council has apologised for the delays and has said it will learn from lessons from this case to ensure

"no other child is let down in this way". Middlesbrough Council has also paid the secondary school student, whose age is not specified in the report, £7,200 - which is calculated

as £2,400 per term that he was without access to full time education or an alternative. It was also agreed that Miss X would be paid £300 in recognition of the distress caused. Councillor

Philippa Storey, Middlesbrough Council’s executive member for education and culture, said: “We fully accept the ombudsman’s findings, and apologise unreservedly for the delays and the

adverse impact they had on this young person’s education. “As a result we are reviewing the way we support school applications, and delivering staff training on the timely application of the

Fair Access system for children who may present with additional needs. Every child deserves a full-time education – that will always be our priority, and we will learn the lessons from this

case to ensure no other child is let down in this way.” OMBUDSMAN FINDS FAULT Detailing the complaint in its report, the ombudsman said Miss X moved with her child to the Middlesbrough area

in July 2023. The mum made an application to the council for a school place for her son - requesting places at three secondary schools. Between September 4 and October 20, the council

contacted Miss X's preferred schools but all three declined due to availability. Council staff informed the mum of the outcome and invited her to make a further application. They tried

to "follow up" with her between November 2023 and February 2024 about a new application. On February 8, last year, the council referred Child Y to its Fair Access Panel (FAP) for

allocation to a school. The mum submitted a new application a week later. Again, the council contacted the preferred schools who declined due to availability. The family's case was

referred to an advisor by the council and the mum told them she did not want to apply for further mainstream schools over concerns her child has special educational needs. The FAP heard the

child's case the following month and he was assigned a space at a mainstream school. But the school refused to admit him over concerns it could not meet his needs. The council’s notes

from April say it was of the view that Child Y needed to be on roll at a school and then an application could be made for alternative provision. By the summer holidays, Miss X sought a

education, health and care needs assessment which was heard by a council panel in September and it was decided the case did not meet the criteria for assessment. A letter was sent to the

mum. The report adds: "The council decided that Child Y should attend the assigned mainstream school. It told Miss X that she could make a new application for an EHCP once there was

more information about Child Y’s needs, which may be obtained from them being in school. Child Y started at the assigned school in October 2024." 'NOT ACCEPTABLE' The mum

complained to the Local Government Ombudsman which found "fault causing injustice". The report says: "It is not acceptable for the council to state that Child Y needed to be

on roll at a school for alternative provision to be applied for. Nor is it reasonable for the council to rely on schools to apply for alternative provision where it is aware a child is not

accessing full time education. "In this case, Child Y could not attend school as they had no accessible school place. Regardless of whether they were on roll of a school or not, the

council had a duty to arrange suitable education while it found Child Y a school place as it knew Child Y could not access education. "Failure to do so is fault by the council,

resulting in Child Y being without the access to education they were entitled to. This occurred at a very key transition point for Child Y." Within 12 weeks, the council has agreed to:

* Review how it will ensure complaints received are considered and responded to in line with the complaints policy. * Review its guidance and policy for arranging alternative provision where

a child is not on roll at a school. * Provide further training for staff on how to consider its duties under Section 19. The full report can be found here. FOR TEESSIDE UPDATES AND BREAKING

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