Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Education & Cultural Services

Forward Plan Ref: 2019/114

Contact: Lucy Butler, Corporate Director for Children’s Services Tel: (01865) 815122

Report by Corporate Director for Children’s Services (CA11).

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has issued a report following its investigation of a complaint against Oxfordshire County Council. The complaint was about Education & Children's Services matter. The LGO found that there had been fault on the part of the Council, and this had caused injustice to the complainants.

The council has agreed to take action which the LGO regards as providing a satisfactory remedy for the complaint. The LGO welcomes the work the council has already carried out, and has planned, to address the fault identified in this and our previous investigation. This is satisfactory to address the service failures identified. 

The council is undertaking recommendations to address the injustice caused to Mr and Mrs X and Child D and to address the injustice that may have been caused to others as set out in the report. 

A full apology has been issued to Mr and Mrs X and Child D and the outcomes of recommendations to address any injustice that may have been caused to others will be reported to the council's Education Scrutiny Committee on 20th November. 

The Cabinet is RECOMMENDED to note the contents of the report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) and to endorse the actions undertaken in response by this council.  

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) has issued a report following its investigation of a complaint against Oxfordshire County Council. The complaint was about Education & Children's Services matter. The LGO found that there had been fault on the part of the Council, and this had caused injustice to the complainants.

The council has agreed to take action which the LGO regards as providing a satisfactory remedy for the complaint. The LGO welcomes the work the council has already carried out, and has planned, to address the fault identified in this and our previous investigation. This is satisfactory to address the service failures identified. 

The council is undertaking recommendations to address the injustice caused to Mr and Mrs X and Child D and to address the injustice that may have been caused to others as set out in the report. 

A full apology has been issued to Mr and Mrs X and Child D and the outcomes of recommendations to address any injustice that may have been caused to others will be reported to the council's Education Scrutiny Committee on 20th November. 

Councillor Liz Brighouse, Opposition Leader, commented that the Councils response to the complaint finding was that of a good local authority. However, she felt that the situation showed that the concept of local government was dead. In the past the Council as the Local Education Authority would have been able to direct that the child be given a place. Now it was a case of appealing to the Secretary of State for Education to direct a school to accept the child. Councillor Brighouse went on to highlight one of the actions relating to the funding of the hospital school. She commented that the High Needs Block funding was overspent with the necessary money just not there. The Council was now looking for a new model to fund the hospital school at the same time as needing to make savings. There were numbers of children missing education and children out of education where we did not know. She added that the Council would abide by the finding but queried why the Ombudsman was not able to investigate the real impediments to education.

Councillor Lorraine Lindsay-Gale, Cabinet Member for Education and Cultural Services thanked Councillor Brighouse for her comments agreeing that it was difficult for the Council that was both responsible but without the power to direct.

Councillor Lindsay-Gale introduced the contents of the report highlighting that there had been two recent and similar findings of fault prompting the response from the Ombudsman. She outlined the review and revision of several processes that had taken place since those incidents. She detailed the actions taken and planned since the finding from the Ombudsman referring also to the challenges and the importance of shared information.

Lucy Butler, Director of Children’s Services, stated that this was an important case. She accepted that some things should not have happened such as the loss of the form and that other problems had been due to processes that made it more difficult to pick up the issue. She shared the parent’s frustration at the inability of the local authority to direct a school to accept a child and noted that they had written to the Secretary of State who did not intervene.

She had kept in contact with the parents and child D and really wanted to see her do well.

RESOLVED:             to note the contents of the report by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) and to endorse the actions undertaken in response by this council.