Northamptonshire family granted £4,900 payout after failures of SEND pupil

A family will be paid nearly £5,000 in compensation after failures in a young person with special needs' education for two and a half years.

North Northamptonshire Council failed the young man, after he missed out on some of the provision he was entitled to for two and a half academic years from September 2020, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) said.

After the family complained to the LGO, it found he also missed four months of any provision at all from September until December 2022.

The council was told to pay £4,400 for not providing the full provision in the young man’s education, health and care (EHC) plan – which set out his needs and what arrangements were required – for the two and a half academic years.

The money will be used for his benefit.

It will also pay his mother £300 “to acknowledge the frustration and distress” caused by the problems caused by the council’s actions.

She was also awarded a further £200 “as an acknowledgement of the time and trouble she has spent pursuing this complaint”.

A North Northamptonshire Council spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of the report and apologise to the family for any distress caused.

"We will be carrying out the agreed actions as outlined by the Ombudsman and have put measures in place to strengthen our processes regarding dealing with EHC plans and communicating with those concerned.”

In March, ITV News Anglia revealed that thousands of parents and children with special educational needs and disabilities were being failed by the SEND system.

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