Hackney Council pays £4,500 over autism tuition delays

Hackney Council has been ordered to pay £4,500 to the family of an autistic boy due to delays in arranging his education. The boy, identified only as Y, missed months of schooling after receiving an autism diagnosis in March 2023.

His father, Mr X, requested an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment from the council in July 2023. Despite being aware the boy was out of school, the council took several months to consider arranging alternative education, a failure in its legal duty under the Education Act 1996. This duty requires local authorities to support children not attending school, including those with special educational needs and disabilities.

Ombudsman's Findings

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) ruled that during the assessment process, the council conflated the father's request for Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) with its own duty to provide alternative education. The council met the deadline for completing the boy's EHC Plan but failed to include the agreed EOTAS package until January 2025, despite it being requested earlier. As a result, the boy lost approximately a school term's worth of teaching.

Further delays occurred even after the boy's entitlement to funded tuition was agreed. The council's budget of £75 per hour made sourcing suitable tutors difficult, meaning the boy spent an additional half term without any teaching. The Ombudsman stated this constituted service failure by the council.

The Ombudsman recommended the council pay £3,000 for the delay in incorporating alternative education provision into the boy's EHC Plan and £1,500 for the failure to deliver tuition. The watchdog found these delays caused the child and his family avoidable distress.

Council Response

A spokesperson for Hackney Council stated: “We recognise the failings outlined in the Ombudsman’s report and are very sorry for the distress caused to the child and their family.” The council is implementing new systems to identify children missing school earlier due to illness, absence, exclusion, or suspension. This includes better engagement with schools and families and a new inclusion panel for better oversight of children not attending school.

The council also reported that in recent months it has implemented a complaints handling improvement plan, including staff training and better tracking, which has created additional investigation capacity and helped resolve complaints earlier.