Council fined after child's Send provision delayed

The council said it had expanded its teams to meet increased demand for EHCP assessments

A council has been asked to pay a family £3,000 after a child with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) suffered delays to their care plan and missed out on specialist provision.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) found that West Northamptonshire Council was late issuing the young person's Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP), causing them "avoidable distress and delay".

The ombudsman said the child missed out on occupational therapy and one-to-one support activities as a result.

The Reform UK-controlled council apologised and said it had expanded its teams to meet increased demand for EHCP assessments.

As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the child, referred to in the report as 'Y' was also late in receiving speech and language therapy.

According to the analysis in the LGSCO report, the council said it believed that Y was receiving the required provision.

It pointed to an annual review undertaken in July 2023 which suggested appropriate provision was being made.

However, the child's school also reported difficulties in delivering support in 2023 and parental views recorded at the time did raise problems with proper Send provision not being provided.

The ombudsman said there was no evidence following the 2023 annual review that the council made any enquiries or investigations at the time into whether the Send provision had been delivered or not.

The report concluded: "On the balance of probabilities, Y missed Send provision contained in her EHC Plan throughout the period June 2023 to September 2024."

The LGSCO has asked the council to apologise to the family for the fault found and pay £3,000 in respect of the 16 months of missed Send provision.

The council said it did not comment on individual cases, but acknowledged the complaints upheld by the ombudsman.

It said it remained "fully committed to making the necessary improvements" to ensure that provision meets the needs of children within the authority.