Northants: Council to pay £5k over school placement failings

A council has been told to pay £5,000 to a mother and son over failures in providing his special needs education.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) "fell well short" of his needs, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) found.

Its report said the teenager missed nine months of education after facing problems in a school he was placed in.

Conservative councillor Fiona Baker said the council was "working hard to address the challenges outlined".

The LGO found the school was unable to meet his needs in April 2021 and the WNC looked for a new placement in the summer, which his mother appealed against.

The WNC said it knew the placement was not suitable in the long-term for the boy.

Councillor Fiona Baker, West Northamptonshire Council's cabinet member for children, families, education and skills, said work was under way on a new strategy.

"In the past two months, we have spoken to over 800 families, health, care and school professionals to hear first-hand the feedback, challenges and improvements needed to help develop an inclusive special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) strategy for West Northamptonshire over the next three years," she said.

"This strategy will set the direction of travel for us as a council to ensure our children and young people with SEND access the right learning environments and support."

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