West Northants Council ordered apologise and pay £3,000 to family for 'avoidable distress and delay' resulting in loss of SEN provision
West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has been asked to pay a family £3,000 after a child with special educational needs (SEN) suffered delays to their care plan and missed out on specialist provision.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) found that the council issued the young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP) after the deadline set by a Tribunal process, which caused them “avoidable distress and delay”.
It added that the child, referred to in the report as ‘Y’, suffered a loss of some SEN provision as a result, including late speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and 1:1 support activities.
WNC said it has actively expanded its teams to meet increased demand for EHCP assessments and that it “remains fully committed to making the necessary improvements” to ensure that provision meets the needs of children within the authority.
According to the analysis in the LGSCO report, WNC said it believed that Y was receiving the required provision. It pointed to an annual review undertaken in July 2023 which suggested that appropriate provision was being made.
However, the child’s school also reported difficulties in delivering support in 2023 and parental views recorded at the time did raise problems with proper SEN provision not being made.
The Ombudsman said that there is no evidence following the 2023 annual review that the Council made any enquiries or investigations at the time into whether the SEN provision, which Mrs X queried, had been delivered or not.
It added that WNC was also unable to demonstrate that all of the young person’s required SEN provision, for example 1:1 support for calming and focusing activities, was fully met.
The report concluded: “On the balance of probabilities, Y missed SEN provision contained in her EHC Plan, throughout the period June 2023 to September 2024.”
The LGSCO has asked the council to apologise to the family for the fault found and pay £3,000 in respect of the 16 months of missed SEN provision.
A WNC spokesperson said: “While we do not discuss individual cases, we acknowledge the complaints upheld by the Ombudsman and sincerely apologise to the families and children affected.
“Like many local authorities, we are experiencing a significant and sustained rise in demand for Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments and referrals, which has placed considerable pressure on our services.
“In response, we have actively expanded our teams through a targeted recruitment drive to increase capacity and improve the timeliness and quality of assessments. This forms part of our broader SEND improvement programme, which includes proactively clearing backlogs, enhancing staff skills, and improved communication with families.
“We are also working closely with partners across education, health, and care to deliver the priorities set out in our SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Strategy, including better joint commissioning, improved transitions to adulthood, and more responsive early help pathways.
“We remain fully committed to making the necessary improvements and working collaboratively with parents and families to address their concerns and ensure that provision meets the needs of our children.”