Council ordered to pay Hertfordshire family £5k over child's education plan after Ombudsman investigation

EDUCATION chiefs have agreed to pay out more than £5000 to the parents of a Hertfordshire child, following a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

In the complaint, the parents of the primary-aged child highlighted delays in the Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process stretching back to 2020.

And they pointed to the impact of missed education and SEN support on the child, who had stopped attending school.

Following an investigation into the complaint, the Ombudsman has found there was ‘fault’ by the county council.

In his report, he suggests the child had ‘never had a suitable EHC plan in place’, since the council decision that one should be issued in October 2020.

And he has directed the council to pay the family £5100 for distress, uncertainty and more than a year of ‘missed’ education.

The report does acknowledge that for a period of time (from September 2020 to January 2021; and from November 2021 to July 2022) the child did receive support from the council’s Education Support for Medical Absence (ESMA) service.

And it acknowledges the role of a private tutor, arranged by the child’s parents, from December 2022.

But it does find that fault by the council caused the child to miss three-and-a-half terms of education and support for their special educational needs.

And this, says the ombudsman, caused avoidable distress for the parents.

Now the ombudsman has directed the county council to complete the re-assessment of the child’s needs ‘without delay’.

He has directed the council to pay the family £3500 to recognise three and a half terms – equivalent to more than a year – of missed education.

And he has told the county council to pay a further £1000 to the parents and £300 to the child, in recognition of the ‘avoidable distress’ caused – as well as a further £300 because of ongoing uncertainty.

Meanwhile he has also directed the council to remind staff about statutory time-scales when reviewing EHC plans – that final amendment when reassessing EHC plans needs to be within 14 weeks.

And he has urged the county council to properly consider private professional assessments, if they are needed, to meet statutory time-scales – keeping records of this consideration and attempts to commission them.

In response, the county council say they take the findings of the ombudsman ‘very seriousy’ and have apologised to the family involved.

They also point to the increasing number of children in Hertfordshire who are requesting SEND support – and the investment the council is making to ensure children receive the right support.

“We take the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s findings very seriously and where they find we have been at fault, we work hard to understand why that has happened, how we can put it right and how we can prevent it happening again,” said a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council.

“We would like to apologise to the family involved in this case We are committed to working in partnership with young people, parents, carers and schools to ensure that all children with SEND and EHCPs in Hertfordshire receive the support they need and deserve.

“The number of children being identified who may require SEND support continues to increase, raising challenges both nationally and here in Hertfordshire.

“In common with many local authorities, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in requests for specialist provision, with a 47 per cent increase in pupils with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) since 2019, as well as the additional challenges due to COVID-19.

“We have recently announced an extra £5m investment in SEND provision, which will help us recruit up to 80 new frontline staff and build capacity to deliver our SEND duties.

“This investment, alongside our ambitious SEND transformation programme, will help us ensure that all children and young people get the support they need in the right way, at the right time and in the right place, through a truly inclusive system.”