Council to pay £21k to families over SEND failures

The ombudsman service said it had urged BCP Council several times to make improvements

A council is to pay families more than £21,000 for failures over education plans for three children.

One boy was off school for more than two years without a proper alternative, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) service said.

It upheld three complaints against Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council within the space of four days.

The Dorset authority said it was working to improve and would apologise to the families concerned.

The council offered to pay £11,600 for causing injustice to one boy who was excluded from school in May 2023.

It admitted it provided either no support or inconsistent alternatives until a placement was found for him in September 2025.

The ombudsman said the fault "would have impacted [the boy] greatly" and distressed his mother.

BCP Council leader Millie Earl previously said the cost of SEND provision had left the authority "technically insolvent"

In another case, a boy's school attendance began to drop in September 2023.

The council was notified that he could not attend mainstream school, but then arranged only part-time tuition.

It offered to pay the family £6,950 for missed education and delays over his Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.

A third child was deprived of Speech and Language Therapy because of EHC plan delays.

The council offered £2,500 for faults including loss of education and causing inconvenience.

All three payments were approved by the LGO.

In a comment on one case, it said it had urged the council to improve its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and alternative education services several times in the past year.

In a statement, the authority said it was working to strengthen its SEND teams and ensure children had access to the right education for them.

Councillor Richard Burton, in charge of education, said: "The well-being of our children and young people remains our absolute priority.

"We acknowledge the recent decisions made by the Local Government Ombudsman and will be following the actions outlined on each case, including apologising to the individual residents."

In July, BCP Council leader Millie Earl said the authority was "technically insolvent" due to the rising cost of providing SEND services.