South London child wrongly suspended from SEN school transport after ‘incident’ with another pupil

Bromley: A child with special educational needs (SEN) was wrongly suspended from school transport, and it’s caused quite a stir. The mum, referred to as Ms X, is understandably upset.

The whole mess came to light thanks to a report from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman. Apparently, Ms X’s child, Y, was supposed to get travel assistance in a shared taxi when they started secondary school in September 2023. The council had even confirmed this arrangement back in August.

But then, in November, Y got involved in an incident with another pupil on the way to school. The transport provider reported it, and the council quickly emailed Ms X, saying Y was suspended for two days. Talk about a shock!

During those two days, Ms X had to take Y to school herself. She complained to the council, saying they didn’t follow their own rules by not discussing the incident with her first. She also felt the transport wasn’t right for Y’s needs.

The council defended itself, saying they acted according to their guidelines. But when the ombudsman got involved, they admitted they should’ve given a warning before suspending Y. They realized they messed up.

The report clearly stated that the council failed to follow its own policy, which left Ms X frustrated. They also looked into whether Y’s transport was suitable and found no issues there.

In the end, the council was told to apologize to Ms X and pay her £66 for the trips she had to make while Y was suspended. They also need to show that they’ve trained their SEN transport team to avoid this happening again.

A spokesperson for Bromley Council said they’re committed to working with families and ensuring safe transport for kids. They’re taking this seriously and want to make things right.

Got a story to share? You can reach out to joseph.coughlan@reachplc.com.

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