Hertfordshire County Council pays over £6,000 after SEND child left without school place

A council has been ordered to pay thousands of pounds after a child with special educational needs was left without a school place for almost a year.

Hertfordshire County Council received a request for a child's place at a special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) school in January 2022.

Due to specific care plan applications being rejected by the council beyond the required deadline, the child lost 42 weeks of education.

As a result, the council has been ordered to pay a total of £6,400 to the family.

Data shows hundreds of other families in Hertfordshire are currently in similar situations, with over 230 applications still being considered beyond the set 20-week deadline.

It comes after exclusive ITV News Anglia polling recently revealed thousands of parents and children across the East of England are being failed by the SEND system.

Detailed in a report published by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, the Hertfordshire mother was told that the child would need an "education health and care plan" (EHCP) in order to be considered for a place at a SEND school.

The application for the EHCP was then dismissed by the county council after nine weeks - three weeks after the statutory time limit.

The application was successful after more evidence was submitted, stating the child needed a specialist setting that caters for children with moderate learning difficulties.

But the report found that this was not completed quickly enough – falling eight weeks outside the 20-week deadline.

The county council was ordered to pay the child's mother £400 as an apology and another £6,000 to acknowledge the impact of 42 weeks of lost education.

Council data showed hundreds of families in Hertfordshire are waiting longer than 20 weeks for an EHCP to be reviewed, leaving SEND pupils in schools that are not appropriate or not in school at all.

237 applications have been lodged with the council for more than the required time frame.

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council apologised to the family and highlighted the “unprecedented increase in requests for specialist provision” being made.

“We take the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s findings very seriously and where they find we have been at fault, we work hard to understand why that has happened, how we can put it right and how we can prevent it happening again,” said a statement from the county council.

“We would like to apologise to the family involved in this case We are committed to working in partnership with young people, parents, carers and schools to ensure that all children with SEND and EHCPs in Hertfordshire receive the support they need and deserve.

“The number of children being identified who may require SEND support continues to increase, raising challenges both nationally and here in Hertfordshire.

“In common with many local authorities, we are experiencing an unprecedented increase in requests for specialist provision, with a 47 per cent increase in pupils with Education and Health Care Plans (EHCPs) since 2019, as well as the additional challenges due to COVID-19.

“We are making new investments into the SEND system and are fully committed to making sure that all children with SEND and EHCPs in Hertfordshire receive the support they need and deserve.”

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