Bradford council 'failed to support woman with autism'

Bradford Council was told to apologise and pay the woman £60,000 over the failure to support her

A council that failed to support a woman with autism, severe anxiety and other mental health problems has been told to pay her £60,000 and apologise.

Bradford Council had failed to support the woman, identified as Ms G, over five years, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said.

Its report said the failure had severely affected her wellbeing.

The council agreed to the Ombudsman's recommendations and must have an action plan within two months.

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The Ombudsman said the woman had "been without formal support agreed by the council for over five years".

"It is difficult to quantify the adverse impact the lack of formal support has had on her wellbeing, daily living skills communicating with agencies accessing public and utility services and travelling around safely.

"It is likely this has been made worse because of a lack of formal support."

Now the council has been told to make an apology to Ms G by an officer "of appropriate senior level" and to pay her £60,000 "to acknowledge the substantial adverse impact on her wellbeing caused by the failure to provide her with the support the council assessed she needed".

The Ombudsman said the cash payment equated to £1,000 for each of the 60 months she had been without support.

Bradford Council has been contacted for comment.