Birmingham City Council 'sorry' over autistic man's care

Birmingham City Council apologised and will pay £3,000 in compensation to the man's family

A council has apologised to the mother of a man with severe autism after she was left to make daily five-hour round trips to his college.

Birmingham City Council said she was responsible for his transport, but the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ruled against the authority.

Medical practitioners said she was put at risk of "violent outbursts" from her 20-year-old son.

The council admitted causing "distress" and will pay £3,000 in compensation.

The Birmingham man, who has "severe and critical needs", attended a specialist college for an additional year last September.

Assessments agreed he needed a guide to accompany him on his journey, the Ombudsman said, but the council declined his mother's application for school transport.

'Frightening' situation

The Ombudsman found numerous faults with the way the council dealt with the mother's application and criticised its failure to complete a carer's assessment of her needs.

One practitioner said she must have found the situation "frightening" due to her son's physical stature.

It was not until February 2018 - a year after first applying - the council agreed to fund the son's transport and backdate that to the start of the academic year.

But it was still without a guide to accompany him on his journey.

Michael King, from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "Councils cannot offload the responsibility of school transport on to parents who have their own demands on their time and are under no obligation to meet the needs of another adult."

The council "sincerely apologised" and said it was "really sorry for the distress caused".

"The way this case was dealt with was clearly not good enough and we will be looking at any changes that need to be made to ensure this sort of thing does not happen again," said a spokesman.

It said its new home to school transport policy was due before cabinet later this month.