Council failed to give non-verbal boy communication support for over a year

A non-verbal autistic boy was left without the specialist support he needed to communicate for more than a year because of failings by City of York Council, according to a report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

The boy uses Makaton, a system of signs, symbols and speech, alongside pointing and gestures to communicate. His Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan states that every member of staff in his classroom should be trained to levels three and four in the system.

The Ombudsman’s investigation, prompted by a complaint from the boy’s family, found the council failed in its legal duty to ensure his teaching staff were properly trained. For more than a year, either no member of staff or at most one held the required qualification. Training was patchy and slow, and staff were still learning Makaton while teaching him.

The council argued the impact was reduced because staff were using other approaches, including gestalt language processing, as part of a broader ‘total communication’ method. The Ombudsman did not accept this.

The investigation also criticised how the council handled the family’s complaint. It took too long to issue a formal response, and the boy’s mother was repeatedly left chasing for updates. At one point, the council asked her to confirm for herself whether the problems had been fixed.

After the complaint was made, the council arranged and paid for Makaton training and offered the family a substantial financial remedy. The Ombudsman welcomed this but said it did not reflect the significance of what the family had been through, and recommended a further payment.

Julie Odams, Chief Executive at the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: ‘A legal duty to a disabled child is not something a council can work around. If an EHC Plan says a child needs Makaton to communicate, finding other ways to navigate the school day is not good enough. That duty was non-delegable and absolute.

‘I recognise City of York Council had taken steps to put things right before the family approached us. Unfortunately that doesn’t change the fact that for more than a year, a little boy who relies on Makaton to be understood was left without it.

‘Every council holding an EHC Plan should check provision is in place when the plan starts, check it every year, and act quickly when someone raises a concern. That is how councils can be sure a child is getting the support their EHC Plan expects.’

Photo: Kevin Malik