Nov 4, 2022, Manchester Evening News: Ombudsman slams city council for failures which left girl without education for months https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/ombudsman-slams-city-council-failures-25436984
An Ombudsman has slammed officers and senior managers at Salford city council who knew a girl was without education for two school terms but 'failed to take responsibility'. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has compensated the girl's mother to the tune of more than £4,000 [$4.5K] after saying that no one at the authority helped [her mother] Miss Y and [daughter] Z find a school place'.
The city council has now agreed to 'apologise to Miss Y for its failure to have proper regard for Z's right to education and failure to provide appropriate support and help and its communication failures'. Miss Y will now receive £600 each for each school month of education Z missed from February 7 this year to the end of the summer term (21 school weeks), amounting to a total of £2,908 and a further £1,200 to 'acknowledge the distress, time and trouble these failures caused her'.
"I consider it appropriate for this payment to be used to reimburse Miss Y for costs she incurred in providing educational materials and activities for Z during this period, with the balance being used for the benefit of her education," the Ombudsman's report said. …
"In my view, the council failed to provide Miss Y with appropriate advice or assistance regarding the availability of other school places or the application process," he said. "Having weighed up the evidence provided about the telephone conversation on April 8, my view is that it is more likely Miss Y was not made an offer of any alternative school places at this time.
"She was desperately trying to get her daughter back to school and I consider she would have responded to any offer made at that stage. My finding is that Miss Y was not offered any alternative school places until School D was offered on June 27."…
Salford city council headquarters in Swinton (Image: Manchester Evening News)
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