Salford council apologises and pays £2,000 to mum over daughter’s missed schooling

The mother of a girl with special educational needs has received an apology – and £2,000 – from Salford council over its failure to provide schooling. 

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has ruled that the council did not consider the provision of alternative education properly, resulting in the missed provision. For a total of five months in 2022, the child, known as ‘C’ did not receive education.

Salford council must also provide guidance to staff about alternative education provision and their responsibilities for ‘ensuring it is considered and provided where necessary’. Evidence it has complied with the rulings must be provided to the Ombudsman by the authority.

C was unable to attend school from March 2022, the Ombudsman said. Her mother, ‘Mrs B’, complained to the council about the lack of alternative education provision.

“The council’s stage two complaint response agreed there had been a missed opportunity and in September 2022 C began to receive one-to-one tutoring,” they said. “The tutoring arrangements broke down in October 2022 and new alternative provision was arranged by the council in November 2022.”

Under the Education Act 1996, councils must arrange suitable education at school or elsewhere for pupils who are out of school because of exclusion, illness or other reasons. This applies to all children of compulsory school age living in the local council area, whether or not they are on the role of a school.

The Ombudsman said: “The council has agreed to apologise to Mrs B and C. It also says its Access to Education Policy and protocol came into force in September 2022 and that all relevant staff have been briefed on their roles and responsibilities. I do not consider the council’s remedy to be sufficient, having regard for the fault found and the loss of educational provision.”

The council was ordered to apologise to Mrs B and C; pay Mrs B £2,000 in respect of lost education provision between March and July 2022, a period of three-and-a-half months taking into account school holidays, at a rate of £400 per month, totalling £1,400; and October 2022 to November 2022, a period of six weeks, totalling £600.