£1,300 compensation after boy missed out on nine months of therapy over Shropshire Council delays

The council has been ordered to apologise and pay £1,300 in compensation to the family for failing to ensure the boy received the support, which was set out in his legally-binding education, health and care plan (EHCP).

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found the council did not raise the family’s concerns with the school in a timely manner, and did not keep to statutory timescales in amending the boy’s ECHP following a review.

The ombudsman’s report says the boy had a “range of special educational needs” and at the time the concerns were first raised he was attending ‘School A’, a special school, where he was supposed to have two 30-minute sessions of one-to-one speech and language therapy a day as required by his plan.

The ECHP was issued in June 2018, and the boy’s mother, named in the report as Mrs C, told the council in July that he was not receiving speech and language therapy.

She raised this again in the September, saying the school had told her it was unable to provide the support required.

The ombudsman’s report says the council had a duty to ensure the provision set out in the ECHP was being delivered and finds the council at fault for failing to do this.

Mrs C contacted the council again in April 2019 to say she was worried that the lack of a constant teaching assistant in her son’s class meant the school was unable to deliver the required speech and language intervention.

The council said it would continue to work with the family, and contacted several other schools with a view to moving the boy to a new school.

In October 2019 Mrs C made a formal complaint to the council that her son was still not receiving the speech and language provision.

The following month she told the council she had seen a plan for her son’s sessions but it was lacking in detail.

Assured

The council told Mrs C that it had met with the school in July and October 2019 and had been assured the provision would be in place, and said officers would meet again with the headteacher.

The report says: “Once the council knew about Mrs C’s concerns (from July 2018), it should have met with the school as soon as possible.

“Because of school terms this might have been in September 2018 rather than in July and October 2019. This is fault. The council may have been able to resolve the matter sooner.”

A senior council officer met with the school in December 2019, and told Mrs C that provision had been in place for several weeks.

The annual review of the boy’s ECHP was also held in December, and it was amended to allow shorter bursts of one-to-one speech and language therapy throughout the day.

The report says: “The council did not receive the completed paperwork from the review until February 2020. This meant it could not issue an EHCP within the eight-week timescale.”

A revised plan was issued in March 2020, naming a different school, but because of the onset of the first Covid lockdown it was decided that the boy would not move until September.

The ombudsman found there was no evidence that the boy had received speech and language therapy from June 2018 to November 2019.

However, there were two three-month periods, following the issuing of a new ECHP in June 2018 and February 2019, when Mrs C could have appealed to a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal.

The ombudsman therefore concluded that the council was at fault for failing to ensure the provision was delivered from September 2018 to January 2019, June, July, September and October 2019.

The report adds: “Mrs C has also complained to us about the council’s complaints handling.

“There was delay before the council took appropriate action to address her concerns with the school.

“On the balance of probabilities, it is likely the boy missed provision because of this. This is fault and it caused Mrs C time, trouble and distress.”

The ombudsman ordered the council to apologise to Mrs C and pay her £100 for each month of missed provision, as well as £400 for the time and trouble the matter caused her.

Shropshire Council has been asked to comment.