Mother wins £1,600 payout in council tuition row

Brighton & Hove City Council said it had accepted the findings and apologised

A mother has received a £1,600 payout after Brighton and Hove City Council failed to provide her child with an education.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ordered the award after the mother complained her child missed schooling at various times from 2022 to 2023.

The mother said the council was supposed to provide a tutor for her child so the child could return to school, but she said the tuition was inconsistent, not suitable and stopped for long periods.

A spokesperson for the authority said: “The council has accepted the ombudsman’s findings and has apologised and made payment.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the council initially put a tutor in place for five hours a week.

The tutor reduced the time to four hours a week and the council was initially unaware.

Later, the child was admitted to hospital and tuition was put on hold until a safety plan was in place.

Apology for delay

By last April, the original tutor was not available to restart lessons and a new safety plan was needed before two new tutors were found, providing eight hours a week.

An incident later occurred with one tutor being asked to leave by the mother.

It led to the child losing four hours a week of term-time tuition until the eight hours were reinstated.

The ombudsman said: “A council must keep all cases of part-time education under review with a view to increasing it as a child’s capacity to learn increases.”

It said the council provided no evidence that it kept the child’s tutoring under review.

The council spokesperson said: “The council works to ensure all children are supported to continue their learning but this can be a challenge when faced with multiple factors.”

Apologising for the delay in responding to the complaint, they added: “We have learnt from this and continue to work hard to improve.”