Leeds City Council has been ordered to pay £1,500 to a mother whose child could not attend school for 18 months because of delays to an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found that the council took 44 weeks, rather than the required 20, to complete the EHC plan.
The ombudsman said the local authority had spent additional time on the plan with ‘good intentions’, ensuring it was suitable and approving the mother’s requests for extra time to comment.
However, the ‘service failure’ left the child, who has significant needs, with no education from December 2021 to April 2023.
The ombudsman proposed the council pay £500 to compensate for the mother’s distress, and £1,000 for the loss of the child’s education.
Responding to the case, a Leeds City Council spokesperson said: ‘We accept the ruling of the ombudsman and are already taking action to ensure reviews of EHC plans for children who are not regularly attending school are held without delay, and to ensure children have a dedicated named officer responsible for all aspects of EHC planning review and provision.’
The ruling for Leeds comes just months after the ombudsman deemed the city council to have ‘lost control’ of another child’s education when it failed to review his EHC plan and he missed four terms at school.
The council said it accepted these findings and agreed to pay £7,200 to compensate.
Regarding this case, a council spokesperson said: ‘The council is continuing to work with the family and remains firmly committed to ensuring that all children living in Leeds have access to good quality and appropriate education.’
