The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has declared that councils across England should ensure their education transport policies properly support young adult with disabilities.
The warning comes following an investigation of London Borough of Lewisham, in which the council insisted a mother take her adult son to college using his Motability car, rather than consider providing him with transport.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found the council at fault for not following law and statutory guidance, which requires councils to provide free transport, where necessary, to enable young adults up to 25 to attend their named college, and prevents councils making unreasonable demands of family carers.
The council failed to take into consideration the mother’s needs as a carer, and was at fault in many other aspects of the support it provided to the young man attending college, including:
- Delay in his social care assessment before he turned 18
- Failing to assess his care needs during his EHC assessment
- Failing to consider many aspects of his social care assessment once he became an adult, including mental capacity, transport and care needs during the holidays and days when he was not at college
- Delay in transferring his Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) to an EHC Plan
- Delay in completing his SEN personal budget (which meant he missed out on additional therapies)
- Inaccurate statements it made about the use of the young man’s Motability car and mobility benefits
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Michael King, said: “Where a college is named in a young adult’s EHC Plan, a council must consider how the young person will travel to college and whether it needs to provide free transport to ensure they can attend.”
“I would urge other councils across the country to use the lessons from this report to scrutinise their own transport policies and ensure they meet the latest guidance.”
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