Worcestershire council to repay school costs after 'distressing' error

Worcestershire County Council admitted it had made a mistake

A council must repay a parent after she was wrongly told to foot the bill of sending her child to a special educational needs school.

The mum covered the travel costs for her child, who has epilepsy, for eight years due to mistakes, a Local Government Ombudsman has found.

She was deemed ineligible for financial help for choosing a different 'preferred' school to one named by Worcestershire County Council.

It has admitted its "failings".

The county council said it would pay travel costs if the child was attending its preferred choice of school 12 miles from the their home.

However, it would not pay if the child travelled to a closer but out-of-county school, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The mum, who was not named in the case, opted for a school four miles from her home - which would help her to manage her child's epilepsy and seizures.

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The ombudsman said the council agreed in 2013 the parent could send her child to the closer school but insisted she pay for school transport.

By law, councils have to provide free school transport to those eligible but the cost can be handed over to parents and carers if their preferred school is further away than the council's choice.

The council has since admitted it made a mistake and has been ordered to pay £200 compensation to the family.

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: "We are sorry for the distress and difficulties that have been caused to the family involved in this situation.

"We have accepted the recommendations of the investigation and apologised to the family affected by our failings in this particular situation."

It said it would learn from the experience.