A county councillor has taken her own authority to a tribunal over her son's education -- and won.

Oxfordshire County Council argued that Christine Witcher's dyslexic son, Declan, was a slow learner and did not need special help.

But she challenged the council's decision. Nine-year-old Declan, who has learning difficulties and behaviour problems, will now have an assessment for special educational needs.

Mother-of-four Cllr Witcher, county councillor for Kidlington North, said it was a victory for all parents of children with learning difficulties. She said: "My son is clever and bright, has a brilliant personality and is very good at football, but through no fault of his own, he learns differently.

"The first step to helping him is a statutory assessment which will establish all his needs and how they can be addressed. Unfortunately, the education authority ignored professional advice and refused."

Oxfordshire County Council education officer John Mitchell said: "We have a very effective system, and the majority of parents are very happy.

"But the tribunal is there as a safety net, so parents who feel they have not had a fair deal can go to the panel and let them consider their view."

Cllr Witcher added: "There are no winners in this situation, even though I won the tribunal. Ultimately, a nine-year-old boy has been desperately trying to understand the curriculum, a school has felt frustration at not being able to help him, and a family has been devastated at their child's rights to be able to learn and achieve an education being denied him. "What the authority did was wrong, and they are doing it all the time.

"During the tribunal, I had to be very conscious that what I did was as a mother but, being a councillor, I am aware of the hell this authority puts other parents through.

"The whole process of getting a child assessed is like Russian roulette, and a lot of children that need assessing aren't getting it."

Cllr Witcher, of Evans Court, Kidlington, who sits on the council's learning and culture scrutiny committee, said Declan, a pupil at St Thomas More Roman Catholic Primary School, Kidlington, had learning difficulties and behavioural problems and had been described by an educational psychologist as a slow learner.

She twice asked for a formal assessment of Declan's needs, but was turned down by an education authority assessment panel, which said he did not meet the council's criteria for learning difficulties.