Mum hoped council "would do everything" for Harry Biggs

Sophie Hughes is voicing her concerns about the lack of support for nine-year-old Harry Biggs, from Felixstowe.

She was speaking two months after the council launched a countywide "Strategy and Action Plan" to improve the experiences of autistic adults and children in Suffolk.

At the same time, the council's cabinet pledged £9.1million of funding to expand its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) services and recruit 30 more staff to cope with demand.

READ MORE: Suffolk SEND parents ‘let down’ and fighting for education

Harry Biggs (Image: Submitted)

Councillor Andrew Reid took over as cabinet member for SEND and education at County Hall earlier this year following a damning Ofsted report into the authority's provision of services for children with special needs, highlighting widespread systemic failings.

Writing for this newspaper earlier this month, county councillor Beccy Hopfensperger, cabinet member for adult care, said the new strategy for autistic people set out a "clear vision" that they, their parents, friends and carers were able to lead "fulfilling lives" in a county that "understands them".

"They will be able to access and depend upon public services that treat them as individuals and are able to make reasonable adjustments to meet their needs.  

"They should expect to play an equal part in the local community, get the right support at the right time throughout their lives and develop their skills and independence and work to their full potential," she said.

Autistic children would be able to "access and depend upon public services," councillor Beccy Hopfensperger said (Image: Suffolk County Council) But Sophie said the council had not arranged a school place for Harry since he was diagnosed with autism, severe anxiety and sensory and communication difficulties in November.

READ MORE: Additional £9.1m needed for SEND services in Suffolk

She had hoped he might be offered a place at one of two Felixstowe schools - Grange Community Primary School in Grange Road or SET Felix Primary School in Maidstone Road.

Additionally, she said the council was supposed to have prepared an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) describing Harry's needs and the council sent an educational psychologist to assess him for an EHCP in March 2023.

She added a draft was initially written and should have been completed "within six to ten weeks" following a response from her.

READ MORE: Suffolk council set to receive nearly £11m for SEND

However, she had concerns that the support on offer did not meet Harry's needs and made her feelings known.

Since then, she said there had been no further response on the EHCP even though she had been contacting the council "two or three" times a week to find out what was happening.

She described an offer of £300 from the council to compensate her for failing to complete the EHCP on time and to help fund education for Harry as "disrespectful to my family".

She added: "My hope for Harry was that once he had his diagnosis Suffolk County Council would do everything they could to help me get my child back into an educational setting that would meet Harry's needs for his education.

READ MORE: Suffolk council paid £10k to SEND parent for education loss

"To this day it has still not happened, even though we were expecting Suffolk County Council to have placed him in SET Felix or another SEND school to start in September 2024."

Sophie said her son had communication issues as a child and found it difficult to fit in and play with other children in a school setting, spending a lot of time outside the class or the headteacher's office.

His final school was unable to complete an EHCP for him because he had spent so much time absent and Sophie is now home schooling him while waiting for a placement.

She said: "I did contact an alternative school to SET Felix and they advised that I made the official complaint as although they would take Harry to get him into education again, they do not have the facilities to meet his needs.

"However, so far I’ve not accepted this as the county council have failed Harry and I feel that they should be doing their best for Harry and placing him in an establishment to meet his needs."

This newspaper understands that the council offered Harry a place at SET Felix, but no further contact had been made with his mother to make the necessary arrangements for him to attend.

A Suffolk County Council spokesperson said: “Improving how we deliver SEND services in Suffolk remains our biggest focus.

“Following multi-million-pound investment, we continue to strengthen our internal teams, strengthen our working practices and strengthen our partnerships with health colleagues and education settings.  

“We recognise we have a way to go, especially with timeliness of issuing EHCP plans, but our results are showing steady improvement.

"Last month, we finalised the highest number of plans.

“The challenges within SEND services are not a Suffolk specific problem. It’s a national problem and deserves the urgent attention of the Government.

“We continue to lobby the new Government on the need for widescale reform and investment.”