Council told to apologise to 100 SEN families

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council was found to be at fault

A council has been told to apologise to 100 families with children with special needs after they received education review completion letters, when consultations had not taken place.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council was investigated after a child missed out on special educational provision as a result of the failings, causing their family "uncertainty, distress and frustration".

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman told the council to pay the family £5,900 and to contact 99 families also wrongly sent letters, to explain what it did wrong.

The local authority said it fully accepted the findings and it was "sincerely sorry for the disruption and distress caused".

The watchdog investigation focused on child Y's experience from May 2023 to September 2024.

The child's mother had complained about the letter and said the local authority had failed to provide the child with an education and deliver the provision in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.

An EHC plan identifies a child's particular needs and what additional support should be put in place.

'Deeply regret'

The ombudsman concluded in July that the local authority was at fault for "causing injustice".

The council agreed to pay the family £5,700 to recognise the impact of four-and-a-half terms of missed education.

It also agreed to pay £200 to recognise the frustration caused by issuing decision letters to annual reviews that did not take place.

Director of children's services for the council, Majella McCarthy, said: "We did not intend to mislead anyone.

"We fully understand how important these reviews are in ensuring young people's needs are being met and that they are receiving the right support.

"We deeply regret in these cases this did not happen and apologise for any concern or upset caused by this."

McCarthy also said the council was reviewing and improving its processes.

"We will be writing to affected families to invite anyone with concerns about their child's provision to contact us directly to arrange an interim review," she added.