Council apologises after child misses out on years of education

Ted Peskett Local Democracy Reporter

A council has apologised to the parents of a child with special education needs who missed out on years of school.

The findings of a case against Vale of Glamorgan Council published on the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ website states that a couple complained about the local authority for failing to meet their son’s educational needs.

They also said the council failed to respond to their emails when trying to arrange a meeting about their son’s education.

After taking their case to the ombudsman, an early resolution was sought and the council eventually agreed to arrange a date to meet the parents face to face.

Failure

A summary of the case on the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ website does not identify the parents.

It states: “Mr and Mrs T complained that Vale of Glamorgan Council had failed to meet their son’s special educational needs and as a result he had now been out of education for 3 years.

“Mr and Mrs T said they had attempted to arrange a meeting with the Council, but it had failed to respond to their emails.

“The Ombudsman found that there had been a failure by the Council to respond to Mr and Mrs T’s emails about the meeting. She said this caused inconvenience and frustration to Mr and Mrs T.

“The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.

“The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to apologise to Mr and Mrs T for not responding to the emails and provide an explanation as to why this happened.

“The Council also agreed to arrange a date within the next 4 weeks for a face-to-face meeting with Mr and Mrs T and to provide a stage 2 response within 20 working days following the meeting.”

There was no accompanying report for the case and when we asked the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales for further details they said the only information that was made public was in the summary of the case.

Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for education, arts, and the Welsh language, Cllr Rhiannon Birch, said: “The Council works hard to make sure that all learners receive the education and support they need to reach their potential, in particular those who require more tailored support.

“We have worked with the Ombudsman to resolve this complaint promptly and will continue to correspond and meet with the family affected to ensure appropriate provision is in place.”