Dad slams Derbyshire County Council delays as authority ordered to pay him over £11,000 after complaint about son’s special educational needs plan

Ian Stone, 50, from Crich, first complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) in 2016 about the actions of the council’s Children’s Services.

The original grievance centered around the support for his now 15-year-old son, who has autism, educational needs, and multiple disabilities affecting his education and social life.

Following further complaints, the ombudsman has now published details of it’s investigation into failings by Derbyshire County Council – including how the authority agreed to reimburse thousands of pounds paid out for a private Educational Psychologist’s report by Mr Stone and his family, but had not actioned this a year later.

Mr Stone said the delays have caused him financial hardship and avoidable distress to himself and his son.

He said: “In 2016, we went to the LGSCO as my son was then not covered by an EHCP but by a special educational statement of provision Statement of Special Educational Needs.

"The rhetoric at the time was that my son did not meet the criteria for an EHCP. I could see that he was very different, very complex.

“To understand my son’s needs and disabilities in greater detail, I obtained a private educational psychologist (EP) detailed assessment to provide as evidence to the Council and the LGSCO, on my son’s educational, social and emotional needs.

“The report was a complete deep dive from an educational perspective about my son. They EP looked at his communication needs at the time, his educational needs, his cognitive ability, his social care needs.

"For an EHCP, you have to demonstrate that there is a need to receive provision so that’s what I was doing with this private report.

"The case was upheld by the LGSCO and the Council agreed to transfer my son’s Statement of Special Educational Need to an EHCP, at the subsequent annual review.

“I had fully covered the cost for this extensive report, and a subsequent complaint response on my son’s disabilities in 2021, stated that local authority had agreed to refund the EP assessment cost.

"As I had not been reimbursed for the costs, I asked the local authority to cover them and followed the advised procedure. This has only led to a rejection of the re-imbursement request.

"This came as a surprise considering the previous agreement to refund the cost in a formal complaint response process. I consider that this standard of conduct is below what is acceptable service to members of the public, specifically, when concerning families who works towards supporting disabled children.

“Following the completion of the complaint process, I appealed to the LGSCO, and specifically raised the failure to re-imburse the EP report costs, despite the Council’s agreement.”

The investigation found that Derbyshire County Council had agreed to refund the costs for the privately commissioned assessment as stated in a letter to Mr Stone dated January 2021.

However, in April this year the authority confirmed it had not yet reimbursed the costs and therefore the LGSCO found it to be at fault.

The watchdog also deemed the Council’s actions to have caused a ‘significant injustice’ to Mr Stone.

The report states: “The Council has offered to reimburse Mr X for the cost of the educational psychologist’s assessment.

"It has also offered to make a payment of £300 in recognition of the time and trouble taken to pursue his complaint. I agree with this offer by the Council, but do not consider it adequately addresses the injustice to Mr X.”

To address the injustice, the Council agreed to provide an apology to Mr Stone, make a further payment of £200 in recognition of the distress caused, and reimburse the cost of the 2016 assessment, all within one of the LGSCO’s final decision on April 5, 2022.

The authority said it would also remind its staff to adhere to the Council’s complaints policy regarding timescales.

Mr Stone says that, despite not sticking to this timescale, all monies have since been paid and an apology issued.

He added: “Securing this money and then not having it for a substantial period has caused a financial strain. This concerned the significant amount of £11,724.80, which could have been used for other family needs and wellbeing, and for supporting my son’s development and additional needs.

"To achieve things in terms of development, my son greater repetition and learning in a structured way. I’ve invested money in lots of different areas on reports and supported him to develop in, things that people take for granted, like language development.

"Having to pay that money has left a big hole in the family finances for quite a long period of time.

"Further to the financial impact, rejecting the reimbursement after agreeing to it, has caused distress.

"Without the support of family, friends and the LGSCO, all of which I hereby thank — and especially my parents, Gordon and Joyce Stone, who are unfortunately no longer with us and contributed financially to this assessment — I would have been unable to address this injustice.”

A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson said: ‘We are committed to supporting families across the county, and while it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on the details of an individual case we can confirm that the Council accepts the Ombudsman’s decision and recommendations in this matter. We have actioned the decision and apologised.”