Complaint over support for additional needs child is partially upheld
A complaint against Stirling Council over how a child with additional support needs was transitioned from nursery to school has been partially upheld by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
The child’s parent complained to the council that their school had failed to put in place appropriate transition arrangements in line with their obligations under the Additional Support for Learning (ASL) (Scotland) Act 2004.
The parent also claimed they had not communicated appropriately with them about the child’s support and education and did not carry out an appropriate investigation of their complaint about the handling of a staged intervention meeting.
In their decision, the SPSO, referring to the youngster as Child A, said:“As A had additional needs, a transition plan was required. We found that the council failed to meet the required timescales when putting in place the appropriate transition arrangements for A and as such we upheld this aspect of the complaint.
“We noted that there were reasonable mechanisms in place to keep C [the parent] updated about A on a daily basis. While the council recognised that there were times that C’s email correspondence was not responded to, we are satisfied with their overall communication with C and as such, we did not uphold the complaint.
“The council carried out an appropriate investigation of C’s complaint about the school’s handling of a staged intervention meeting. The council consulted with all attendees and have demonstrated that they have reflected appropriately on the school’s handling of the meeting. We did not uphold this aspect of C’s complaint.”
The Ombudsman recommended that, to“put things right in future”, the council should have appropriate measures in place to ensure that statutory timescales for putting in place an appropriate transition are met. They asked for evidence that the recommendations had been implemented by a set deadline.
A Stirling Council spokesperson said:“The council’s education service fully investigates all complaints and takes any necessary actions to ensure we continue to provide the highest quality of education and care to our children and young people.
“Two of three complaints were not upheld by the SPSO. The complaint in relation to transition planning timescales was partially upheld by the council ahead of the SPSO decision and we have apologised to the family for any anxiety and frustration this caused. The service is updating the SPSO on progress made towards the recommendations.”