Children’s services in Richmond has been criticised for “multiple failings” in supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities, resulting in payouts of £17,500.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which investigates complaints from the public about councils, condemned Richmond council’s children’s services provider, Achieving for Children, for “systemic failures between the council and its provider”.

It cited three separate cases it had recently investigated, which saw children and young people missing out on support and education due to delays.

In one instance, a sixth former with mental health issues was repeatedly let down and missed out on her education because the council took too long to make the appropriate provision.

In another case, the council took nearly a year to complete an Education, Health and Care Plan for a primary school child with disabilities.

These plans are legal documents that describe a child or young person’s special educational, health and social care needs and the support that they need.

A teenager with SEN who was about to sit her GCSEs also missed out on a year’s education at a private special school, because the council failed to tell her parents it had agreed to fund it.

The Ombudsman also noted when they visited, case files were often named or filed incorrectly.

The council has agreed to apologise to all three families and will pay £17,500 in damages.

This includes £4,400 to the second family to reimburse the cost of a psychology report the family had commissioned, and £8,600 to make up for the loss of education provision for the third family.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “The three cases highlighted in my report give rise to serious concerns that there may be systemic failures within the processes operated by the London Borough of Richmond and Achieving for Children.

“I have published this report in part because other families may very well be affected by issues similar to those I have raised.

“I have now asked the council to undertake a full audit of its education provision and report back to me about what it finds. If the council finds other children have been affected, it should take steps to ensure they do not miss out on the services they are entitled to receive by law.” 

Responding to the report, Ian Dodds,  Director of Children’s Services for Richmond Council, said providing high quality SEND support is a “number one priority” for Richmond Council and Achieving for Children.

However, he noted implementing the 2014 SEND reforms had been “an enormous challenge” for all local councils.

He said this was “in a context of increasing need for support and raised expectations without adequate government funding to support their effective delivery to all the children and families who need them.

“The LGSCO report is accepted in full and clearly shows that there were significant failings for some children and young people between 2016 and 2017.  This does not reflect what I want to see in place for every child and young person.

“It does show that Richmond Council and Achieving for Children were slow to recognise the increased demands of the 2014 Act and our sincerest apologies have been extended to the families of the children and young people the Ombudsman has reported on.

 “Since the period of the Ombudsman’s investigations, much has been achieved and significant investment has been made locally. There is new leadership in place and a renewed commitment to continuous improvement of local SEND services through our SEND Partnership Board.”

He claimed the council had doubled the resource within the SEND service, to a large team of 40 officers, and that they had improved the training, support and supervision of SEND team members.

He added that the council was also making significant efforts to listen to parents, carers and young people through a new parent panel.

 “The proof of the pudding is always in the eating, and I believe that our additional investment is already making a difference. 95 per cent of our Education, Health and Care Plans are completed within the 20-week deadline, and are increasingly of a good quality, compared to 60 per cent nationally.

“In addition, early indications from the feedback we now systematically collect from parents and carers  shows that the large majority have confidence in our assessment process and in the quality of the final Education, Health and Care Plan for their child.

“The progress and attainment of children with SEND in Richmond remains strong and is consistently above national benchmarks. There is more work to do, though, and I am committed to working with our statutory and voluntary partners and, importantly, with our new Parent-Carer Forum to ensure further improvement.”