Family to receive £17,500 after social care failings

A Brighter Futures for Children spokesperson said it “fully accepts” the LGO’s report

A family will receive more than £17,500 in compensation after a child missed out on a year’s worth of special needs support.

A mother, referred to as Ms Y, complained to the local government watchdog after problems with the way her child got appropriate support.

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) concluded the child, referred to as Child Z, missed out on all special needs provision over the entirety of 2020/21.

Brighter Futures for Children, the not-for-profit company that runs children's social care for Reading Borough Council, agreed to apologise to Ms Y and Child Z and pay the compensation.

The LGO said the family should receive £13,997.20 for missed social care support, £3,100 to recognise missed special needs provision throughout 2020/21, and another £500 to reflect the mother’s distress. That is a total of £17,597.20.

A spokesperson for Brighter Futures for Children said it “fully accepts” the LGO’s findings.

“We have made two separate apologies to Ms Y and have also apologised to Child Z, in a child-appropriate way," they said.

“All payments the Ombudsman has asked us to make to Ms Y will be made and we commit to working with her to make all recommended changes to Child Z's Education Health and Care plan and social care support."

“We also commit to making service improvements to prevent similar situations from arising in the future.”