West Sussex woman paid over £4000 after son's EHCP issues
The Ombudsman says the money will remedy the 'distress and uncertainty' caused to the woman and her son
West Sussex County Council has paid a woman £4,250 following issues with her son’s Education, Health & Care Plan.
The woman, known as Ms C, complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after the Plan – which are drawn up to help children with special needs – was not reviewed or updated correctly.
In addition, there were delays finding the child a new school – according to his mother, the last time the boy had been in an actual classroom was in November 2021.
After that he was in a specialist support unit ‘on a reduced timetable of two hours a day – largely playing on his own’.
The Ombudsman also said the council’s communication with Ms C – including in relation to complaints – had been poor.
The money paid to Ms C was to remedy the ‘distress and uncertainty’ caused.
It also covered two terms from October 2022 during which the boy missed out on education after the council thought that an outside organisation had started to provide tutoring.
This was not the case and the tutoring did not start until May 2023.
West Sussex County Council have also had to pay a father £100 per month until it sorted out his child’s Education, Health & Care Plan.
The father – known as Mr X – complained to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman that the council had failed to carry out a needs assessment for his child or to provide suitable education in the meantime.
The child – known as Y – has been on the roll of a mainstream school since May 2022 but has had ‘little or no attendance since then’.
Some of the delay in preparing a Plan was because the council had trouble getting the necessary advice from an educational psychologist due to a national shortage and the very high number of referrals.
But the Ombudsman found the council to be at fault for failing to decide whether to issue a Plan within the statutory time-scales and for not properly considering its duty to provide alternative education provision for the child.
As well as the monthly payment, the council also agreed to apologise to Mr X and pay him a total of £1,800 ‘to recognise the frustration and uncertainty the delays caused him’.
In response to both cases, a council spokesman said:
"We accept the Ombudsman’s findings, have apologised to the family involved and a financial remedy has been paid.
"We acknowledge that we were at fault for issues in updating an Education, Health and Care Plan, delays in managing education provision and for poor communication.
"We understand the distress this has caused.
"As a result of this case, we have given additional guidance to staff on the importance of fulfilling our duties around education provision as part of an EHCP and providing appropriate communication."