Overview
Mr C complained on behalf of his son Child A. Child A was being home-educated. Mr C had asked Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (the Council) about access to exams. After discussion, it was agreed Child A could attend the nearest school (School X) for specific classes so that he could sit exams in those subjects at the end of the school year. Child A attended school but teaching staff objected. Child A was sent home. Mr C complained to the Council and was unhappy with the delay in their response and the response itself.
Specific complaints and conclusions
The complaints which have been investigated are that the Council:
- (a) failed to honour a commitment to admit Child A to a class at School X (upheld);
- (b) acted unreasonably in refusing to consider enrolling Child A in individual classes (upheld); and
- (c) handled a complaint about these matters inadequately (upheld).
Redress and recommendations
The Ombudsman recommends that the Council:
- (i) ensure that all future responses to the Ombudsman are based on a review of the evidence available;
- (ii) put in place a policy and guidance for dealing with requests for support for home-educated children. As part of the process of creating the policy, they should consult with local teachers; the parents of home-educated children, children themselves and other local authorities. They should ensure that the policy is in line not only with the legislation but the guidance issued by the Scottish Government;
- (iii) remind all staff of the need to ensure that statements about decisions made by the Council are evidence-based and that, where advice is sought in coming to a decision, this is appropriately noted;
- (iv) undertake an audit of their complaints handling processes and procedures. This audit should be undertaken within three months of this report and be reported at quarterly intervals over the next 12 months (15 months in total) to the Ombudsman. The audit should demonstrate significant improvement over this time and show that the recommendations made in this and previous reports about complaint handling have been implemented;
- (v) ensure investigations of complaints are evidence-based; and
- (vi) apologise to Mr C and Child A separately and in full for the failings identified in this report including the events of 20 August 2007 and the distress caused.
The Council have accepted the recommendations and will act on them accordingly.