Ombudsman inundated with SEND complaints from families

An investigation by Schoolsweek has found that complaints to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) have nearly tripled over the past five years, from 509 in 2018-19 to 1,435 so far this financial year. The number of complaints that were upheld have also increased over the same time frame from 85 per cent to 94 per cent. The LGCSO is an independent body charged with investigating councils’ administrative actions and can set recommendations and request compensation for families. In total, councils had to pay more than £700,000 over their failures in just six months – the total over the last five years could run into the millions.

The lead issue was the delay in issuing EHCPs within the 20-week legal timeframe. National data showed that just 47.7 per cent of plans were issued on time last year. At some councils this was as low as 3 per cent. A key reason given for the delay was the shortage of Educational Psychologists (EP) who are required to provide input into an assessment. Nearly 30 per cent of the cases involved a child missing out on education in some form, with the requirement to ‘make arrangements for suitable education’ for school-age children who are ill, excluded or ‘otherwise’ being the main area of non-compliance.

The government’s SEND and AP improvement plan pledged to “look at what the role of the LGSCO should be in a reformed SEND system”. The ombudsman has called for greater powers to investigate complaints about schools. Nearly three-quarters of councils said children’s services and education, including SEND, were the greatest short-term pressure. The government is reforming some elements of the SEND system, but most changes are unlikely to be rolled out until at least 2026. You can find more information about these changes at the REACH project website.