Council's 'confusion' over SEND obligations

A local authority has said it "demonstrated confusion" about its obligations to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

In February, Oxfordshire County Council was told to review 13 cases where the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) had found problems with how children were provided with alternative education.

The council found there was an "absence of a clear policy and pathway of action" for children that led to a "misinterpretation" of what they were statutorily entitled to.

The LGO told the authority to look at the cases again after ordering it to pay £7,900 in compensation to a family whose child missed out on four terms of education.

Lisa Lyons, the authority's director of children's services, said it took immediate action to review the 13 upheld complaints, which dated from December 2022 and February 2025.

Those involved children who had missed more than 15 days of education. In most cases, mental health and wellbeing was the reason for why they could not attend school.

Oxfordshire County Council's report found that it should have moved to fund alternative education or to prosecute parents or guardians for their child's non-attendance.

It said it has put new arrangements in place so it can receive and deal with requests for alternative provision suitably.

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