Somerset County Council fined after pupil misses school

A council has been fined more than £3,000 after a pupil missed nearly a year of primary school.

The child stopped going to their Somerset school in March 2021 due to anxiety, and was subsequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.

His mother complained after the council failed to issue him with an updated education, health and care plan (EHCP), causing him to miss months of lessons.

Somerset County Council has apologised to the family.

It said it had taken steps to speed up its assessment processes.

The boy was provided with an EHCP in February 2021, but his mother, known as Mrs X, asked the council for an early review, arguing his needs had "not been properly identified".

The council carried out a review in late-May 2021, but Mrs X asked them not to finalise the amended plan until she had received reports from separate private assessments of her son's needs.

After months of further correspondence and negotiation the council agreed to fund a personal mentor for the boy in December 2021, with the final EHCP not being issued until February 2022.

Mrs X told the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman the lack of "appropriate education" for her son had been "detrimental to him" and caused "significant distress" for the family.

She said she had to reduce her working hours as a result of the delay.

The ombudsman concluded the council had "not complied with its duty" to provide suitable education and was at fault for not taking action sooner.

It ordered the council to apologise and pay £3,125 to Mrs X.

A council spokesperson said it accepted the ruling and had apologised to the family "for the distress caused".

The spokesperson said the council had "completed all the actions asked" and had been "working hard" to shorten the wait for EHCP assessments.

Additional reporting by Harriet Robinson

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