10 October (Part 1) - And another one!
While looking around the LGO website yesterday I found
another current SEN
related case that involved an autistic child provided with inadequate education and suffering because
of a series of mistakes and delays by Bexley Council.
The penalty imposed on the Council was only £1,000 but it had already
reimbursed the £5,000 cost of a replacement education package which the Ombudsman thought was sufficient.
The second case will not be summarised here because unlike yesterday’s I
have no contact with the parent; speaking of which the father corrected my implication
in the eighth paragraph that it was Bexley Council which had fibbed about the employment of an autism expert.
Our correspondence did not reveal exactly where in the borough he lives but it
was reasonably clear that it was far to the south of me. His final comment confirms
what I would have expected, that Councillors from both parties were always very
supportive of his situation. One must wonder if the SEN staff work in isolation from reality.