Oxfordshire County Council to pay £2,000 after care plan 'mistakes'
- Published
The plan was finalised late, the Local Government Ombudsman concluded
A council that was found to have caused a family distress and uncertainty by the way it handled a child's care plan will pay £2,000 in compensation.
Oxfordshire County Council was told to pay the money after a father complained about how it dealt with his daughter's education, health and care (EHC) plan.
The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) said it should pay the money to recognise the impact of its "mistakes".
The authority said it and other bodies were making improvements.
The LGO said it should have issued a final EHC plan, which outlines what extra help a child or young person should get, by August 2022.
The plan was finalised in February 2023, a delay of nearly six months.
The authority was also found to have caused the girl's father "frustration" with its delays and poor communication as he spent time "chasing" it for updates.
It will pay the girl's father £1,500 to recognise the impact on the family.
It will also pay £500 to "recognise the frustration and time and trouble" involved in chasing the council.
In March, the authority and other partners said they were making improvements after a negative report from Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (the independent regulator of health and social care in England) into its special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision last September.
"We are working together as a partnership to review, reset and rebuild services listening to what matters most to children, young people with SEND and their families," its cabinet member for SEND, Kate Gregory, said.
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