Save Our Children: Put Southampton SEND Services into Government Intervention
25/08/25, 21:00
Southampton City Council has issued Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) late, unlawfully stripped out specialist education and residential provision; and transport, abandoning children with autism and other complex needs without education at the start of the school year.
An autistic teenager from Southampton has been left without education after the council failed to meet legal deadlines and stripped his specialist support.
For six years he attended Grateley House School as a residential pupil, where he thrived academically and personally. He completed his GCSEs successfully in summer 2024.
But in 2025, when it came time for his phase transfer EHCP, Southampton City Council failed to issue the plan by the legal deadline of 31 March. When the plan eventually arrived on 23 June, nearly three months late, it removed his residential placement and transport and named Eastleigh College, a mainstream setting.
Professionals at Grateley House and Cambian Wing College — alongside medical evidence from the family — confirmed that he requires a specialist residential setting with integrated care, education and therapy. Cambian Wing offered him a place in July 2025.
Despite this, the council refused to reinstate provision or transport. Tribunal proceedings are listed for January 2026, but tribunals cannot order interim relief. That means this young person, who has a legal right to education, is out of school for at least half a year.
The family has pursued every route: the council’s Stage 1 and Stage 2 complaint process, a complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman (now under investigation), a Pre-Action Protocol letter for Judicial Review, and appeals to Ofsted, CQC and the Department for Education. Yet their son remains at home without education.
This is not one isolated case. Families across Southampton are experiencing the same unlawful delays, removals of provision and safeguarding gaps.
The family is calling for urgent government intervention to protect SEND children in Southampton and across the UK.
Help us demand change. Sign the petition today and stand with families fighting for their children’s education.
👉 Sign the Petition: https://www.change.org/p/save-our-children-put-southampton-send-services-into-government-intervention