This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Local Government & social Care Ombudsman Actions KCC Agreed'.



 
 
 
Fiona Thorne
 
Please ask for: Hannah Rumball
Reference: 26348534
Email: 
xxx.xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.xxxxxxxxx.xxx
Date: 17 February 2022
 
 
 
Dear Fiona Thorne
 
Thank you for your request for information made under the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA) 2000 relating to Education Needs - LGO case. Please accept my sincere 
apologies for the delay in responding to your request: I appreciate that the Council has 
not complied with statutory timescales on this occasion. Please see the response 
provided below:
Re The LGO case - Kent County Council (20 005 372)
I request copies of:
1)copies of the above Policies. minutes of meeting relating to the Policy drafting 
showing officers involved in making such Policy.  
These policies are confirmed as being in place and all health needs information is 
available on the website of The Rose wood School.  CME guidance is published on 
KCC’s website kent.gov.uk 

2)Evidence and content of the training that has been carried out with dates and 
details of who delivered the training.  
KCC’s response to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman states: “With 
regards  to  the  staff  training  requested  at  point  59  of  the  final  decision,  the  Local 
Authority  understands  that  it  should  have  in  place  a  policy  for  children  missing 
education  for  medical  reasons,  which  should  take  account  of  current  guidance  and 
legislation.  It  is  also  understood  that  the  policy  will  impact  on  relevant  areas  of  the 
council  and  on  its  partners  –  significantly  on  the  practice  of  schools  and  educational 
settings. So, we have raised awareness of this policy more widely. Initially training took 
place  with  relevant  Council  staff  on  the  statutory  duty  to  provide  suitable  education 
when a child is absent from school due to illness, exclusion or otherwise and the need 
to consider the individual circumstances of the case and all the evidence available. 

Within SEND specifically, Staff have been informed through their monthly Area Section 
Meetings  and  from  training  in  management  meetings  of  the  need  to  look  at  the 
evidence  of  each  case  independently  and  attention  drawn  to  the  attached 
documentation  and  guidance.  Staff  are  fully  aware  of  the  individual  circumstances  of 
each  case,  and  they  will  ensure  that  provision  is  made  available  to  a  child/young 
person  which,  may  include  therapies,  counselling,  social  interaction  provision,  etc. 

 


when they are unable to attend school due to ill health. Staff have also been reminded 
and made aware of the availability of Provisional Evaluation Officers whose role within 
the  County  is  to  support  schools  with  advice  on  SEND  provision  and  monitor  that 
provision in terms of that specified in EHC plans.”

3)copies of evidence provided to the LGO.  
The majority of the information shared with the LGSCO is personal to the young 
person/family who raised the complaint, it relates to their education and personal 
circumstances.  The only exceptions to this are KCC guidance documents. 

To share this evidence containing personal information without the individual’s consent 
would amount to a breach of the Data Protection Act 2018.  Therefore, this information 
is exempt from disclosure under section 40 (2) of the Freedom of Information Act on the 
grounds that it is personal information.

Access to personal data is managed via a Subject Access Request under the GDPR 
and Data Protection Act, so you may wish to consider obtaining the consent of the 
individual concerned and then submitting a request via 
xxxx.xxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx.xx 
 
If you are unhappy with this response, and believe KCC has not complied with 
legislation, you have 40 working days from the date of this response to ask for a review. 
You can do this by following our complaints process; details can be found at this link 
https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/complaints-and-compliments#tab-10 on our 
website. Please quote reference [26348534].
If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you can appeal to the Information 
Commissioner, who oversees compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. 
Details of what you need to do, should you wish to pursue this course of action, are 
available from the Information Commissioner’s website http://ico.org.uk/concerns 
Yours faithfully
 
 
Hannah Rumball
Information Governance Specialist
Strategic and Corporate Services