West Sussex council pay-out after EHCP failures

An ombudsman found that West Sussex County Council had not reviewed or updated the child's EHCP correctly and communication with his family had been poor

West Sussex County Council has paid more than £4,000 in compensation to a woman after an ombudsman found problems with the authority's handling of her child's Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), it has emerged.

The woman, known only as Mrs C, complained to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after the EHCP for her primary school age son was not reviewed or updated correctly.

Additionally, delays in finding the boy a new school left him in a specialist support unit for two hours a day, mostly playing alone, his mother said.

West Sussex County Council (WSCC) said it accepted the ombudsman's findings and has apologised to the family.

EHCP's are drawn up to identify needs and provide support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

It comes after WSCC pledged £20m last month to "improve outcomes" for children and young people with SEND in the county.

According to the child's mother, the last time the boy had been in a classroom was November 2021, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The £4,250 pay-out made in March also covered two terms from October 2022 during which the boy missed out on education after the council wrongly thought an outside organisation had arranged to provide tutoring, but tutoring did not begin until May 2023.

The ombudsman also said that WSCC's communication with the child's mother, including in relation to her complaints, had been poor.

A council spokesperson said: "We accept the Ombudsman’s findings, have apologised to the family involved and a financial remedy has been paid.

“We acknowledge that we were at fault for issues in updating an Education, Health and Care Plan, delays in managing education provision and for poor communication and we understand the distress this has caused."

The authority said it had given extra guidance to staff regarding communication and their education provision duties as a result of the case.

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