Woman labelled ‘unreasonably persistent’ receives £500 from West Sussex County Council
A woman labelled ‘unreasonably persistent’ has received £500 from West Sussex County Council due to the way it handled her complaint.
The woman – known as Ms Y – complained that the council had failed to comply with the requirements of a SEND Tribunal Order relating to her child’s Education Health & Care Plan.
As a result, she had to educate the child at home, which she said limited their chance of gaining GCSEs, breached their Human Rights and ‘significantly impacted’ their welfare.
Ms Y also complained that her contact with the council had been restricted as the authority felt she had been ‘unreasonably persistent’ in her approach.
A report from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman found the council to be at fault for some parts of the complaint.
They included a delay in appointing a learning mentor to help the child transition into school, delays in appointing tutors to support them with maths and science work, and the arrangement of a review of the Education Health & Care Plan.
The Ombudsman recommended that the council make a ‘symbolic’ payment of £500 to Ms Y to recognise the distress caused by the delays.
She also found the council to be at fault for not following its own policy for dealing with ‘unreasonably persistent complainants’ – imposing restrictions rather than first sending ‘a clear warning’ to Ms Y explaining which behaviours were problematic.
A council spokesman said: “We accept the Ombudsman’s findings regarding delays in our complaint response and appointing a learning mentor.
“We have apologised to the complainants and agreed a financial remedy to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused.
“We are also taking action to ensure appropriate communication is in place around any contact restrictions and to remind staff of the need to follow our published procedures.”