Central Beds Council pays out £4k after failing student with special needs
A council has to apologise and pay £4,000 to a Central Bedfordshire mother and her daughter, after failing to ensure the child’s school delivered all the provisions required in her education, health and care (EHCP).
The mother said this meant her daughter with special educational needs (SEN) “was unprepared and unable to access education at school”, according to a local government watchdog.
Central Bedfordshire Council was poor at communicating with her, which caused further anxiety and frustration, said the local government and social care ombudsman’s report.
“She raised concerns with the council in November 2023 that the school wasn’t delivering the provision in her daughter’s plan. CBC investigated and decided the right support wasn’t being offered, but didn’t take any action against the school.
“The mother brought her complaint to the ombudsman, and we found fault with the council in August 2024 for only partly dealing with her concerns about SEN support for her daughter.
“A final amended EHCP was issued in July 2024 for her last year in school, including a daily check-in with a member of staff to prepare her for the day ahead. CBC issued a final amended plan in February 2025, only for the mother to complain to the council in April that the school wasn’t delivering the plan provision.
“Without the correct support, she said her daughter struggled to attend lessons and spent much of her time in school in the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) unit. Satisfied with the school’s response, CBC didn’t uphold her complaint.”
She escalated her complaint to stage two, claiming the council accepted the school’s response without requiring any supporting evidence, explained the report.
“CBC suggested the school provided a ‘log of support’, which showed the delivery of the daughter’s provision. She then brought her complaint to the ombudsman.
“The fact that the school didn’t keep a record of the support until April 2025 indicates the council hadn’t asked for evidence of it until she complained. This was fault.
“Given that the mother had complained about missed provision the previous school year and we found fault, this is more significant. I’ve considered the cumulative injustice to them in terms of the distress and impact on her daughter’s education when making my recommendations.
“The school supplied her attendance records, but told CBC it didn’t keep a record of time spent in the SEND unit. The absence of records makes it difficult to determine the extent the missed provision affected the daughter’s access to education. This in itself is fault.
“On balance, I’m satisfied that she spent more time than necessary in the SEND unit. Given that she was in year 11, the injustice was more significant. She’s now left school, so her injustice cannot be remedied through additional support.”
The council has agreed to apologise to them both for failing to ensure the school delivered the EHCP requirements, added the report.
“CBC will pay the mother £500 for the distress that was caused, and a further £500 for her time and trouble pursuing the complaint. Her daughter is to receive £3,000 from the local authority for the injustice caused by the missed education.
“CBC also agreed to send us an action plan setting out how it would ensure there’s clarity in its monitoring of future SEN provision delivery.”