Council slapped with hefty fine after failing to provide alternative education to Portsmouth child

Portsmouth City Council failed to provide alternative education to a child for two full school terms, the local government ombudsman has found.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which investigates maladministration and service failure in councils and social care providers, has upheld a complaint lodged against the council.

The complainant asked the council for an education, health and care plan (EHC) for her child in July 2022.

An EHC describes a child’s special educational needs and what is required to meet them.

The council produced the plan in January 2023, missing the deadline by nine weeks. This caused “avoidable frustration and uncertainty” for the mother and child, the ombudsman’s report said.

The council then provided, through an alternative educational provider, nine hours of online work with two hours of mentoring per week.

A formal complaint was lodged to the council on April 19, 2023, after her child was found unwilling to engage with the online work – it is now understood that the child started a new school in September last year.

The ombudsman said that any council should ensure that education must be accessible and suitable for children’s individual needs. It found that the council failed to do so, which resulted in the child missing two full school terms since January 2023.

The agreed action for the council is to apologise to the complainant and pay £200 for the delayed EHC plan.

In addition, the council should pay a further £4,000 to the mother for its failure to provide adequate education.

Sarah Daly, director of children, families, and education at Portsmouth City Council, said they provided alternative provision they believed would meet the child’s needs and blamed a rise in demand for the delay.

“However, we have accepted the recommendation from the LGO and apologised to the parent and the child for any distress caused,” she said.

“We will continue to assess and review our alternative provision offer to ensure that future needs are met as appropriate.

“The steep rise in requests for education health and care assessments, and the subsequent rise in education, health and care plans has impacted our timeliness in completing assessments and plans. We are investing in additional capacity to make the necessary improvements.”