West Sussex County Council has paid £3,500 to a mother whose child missed months of school due to delays in sorting out a care plan.
A complaint was made to the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman by Mrs X, who said her child – known as Y – stopped attending school in February 2022.
The ombudsman reported that Mrs X’s request to the council for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment was initially refused before being granted at appeal.
But an ongoing shortage of educational psychologists led to a delay in the assessment being carried out.
In the meantime, no alternative provision had been made for the child’s education.
An Education, Health and Care Plan was finally put in place in January 2024 with Y returning to education in April.
The ombudsman said the council should apologise in writing to Mrs X and pay her £800 for the delay in issuing the Education, Health and Care Plan.
This was calculated at around £100 per month for each month of the delay.
The council also agreed to pay £300 for the schooling missed between May and July 2022; and £2,400 for that missed between September 2023 and April 2024.
A council spokesman said: “We accept the ombudsman’s findings and have apologised to the family involved.
“We acknowledge that we are at fault for the delay in issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan and a financial remedy has been paid in recognition of the frustration and uncertainty experienced by the family.”
