Ombudsman orders Herts education bosses to ‘remind’ staff about their statutory duty to children with special educational needs

HERTFORDSHIRE education bosses have been told they must ‘remind’ staff about their statutory duties to children with special educational needs – following an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman’s investigation was conducted in response to a complaint by the parent of a secondary school pupil with special educational needs.

And it focussed on the time it took the county council to review, amend and issue a child’s education health and care plan (EHCP).

EHCPs are crucial documents that identify a child’s educational, health and care needs – specifying any particular provision or support required.

And once issued, an EHCP must be reviewed annually – with a revised EHCP issued within eight weeks.

However according to the Ombudsman’s report, in this case it took the council 13 months to issue the finalised plan.

The review, according to the report, was held in December 2020.

But the amended draft EHCP was not made available to the parent until November 2021.

And the final plan was not issued until January 2022.

According to the report, the child had continued to attend a mainstream secondary school ‘witha range of measures in place to support him’ throughout.

But the Ombudsman found that the delay had ‘frustrated’ the parent’s right to appeal.

And in his report, he directs the county council to ‘remind’ relevant staff of their statutory duties under Regulation 22 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, through training or a briefing note.

He also directs the council to apologise to the parent with a £300 payment, in recognition of her ‘time, trouble and frustrated SEND tribunal appeal rights’.

The publication of the Ombudsman’s report comes just days after it emerged the county council is to invest an additional £5million a year in SEND provision.

And that is expected to lead to the recruitment of 80 additional staff to support children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

However proposals are yet to be finalised – and are expected to be outlined to councillors later this month (June).

In recent years the number of children presenting with special educational needs in the county has significantly increased.

And data shows the county council has failed to keep pace with requests from families for additional support.

Commenting on the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “Statutory SEND services are nationally recognised as being under increasing pressure, including here in Hertfordshire where we have seen significant increases in requests for EHCP assessments year on year.

“Through our SEND Strategy 2022-25 we recognise that improvements are needed to support our families with SEND more effectively.

“We are pleased with the recent commitment from the leader of the council in May 2023, to invest significantly in our SEND services by £5m on an ongoing basis and we will work alongside our partners, including our parent and carer forum to ensure this funding is focussed on enabling the council in more effectively meeting its statutory duties in the future.”