Mum given £3.5k pay-out over education plan failure

A mother and daughter have received a £3,500 pay-out after a council apologised for the "distress" caused by failings that meant her teenage daughter dropped out of college.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) investigated a complaint by the mother, referred to as Mrs B, about delays in assessments, poor communication and a lack of support from Wirral Council.

It was over the education, health and care plan (EHCP) for her daughter, referred to as C, who has special education needs and disabilities (SEND).

Wirral Council said the authority "wholeheartedly accept the Ombudsman's findings" and publicly apologised.

C went into year 11 in 2023 and hoped to move into further education in 2024, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

She had received support to help her complete her GCSEs and her mother asked the council to assess whether an EHCP - a special extra plan of support - was needed.

The council agreed to the request but no plan was in place by the time C had started at her new school in 2024.

By mid September C was "experiencing symptoms associated with her special educational needs that had a distressing impact on her", the LGO said.

The ombudsman then got involved who found the family had not had any contact from their caseworker since July 2024. By mid October C was no longer in college.

Finding the council at fault, the LGO said: "Part of the fault clearly lies in the service failure resulting from the council having too few education psychologists last year to meet demand."

During the process, the council said it was facing a shortage of education psychologists.

However, the LGO said, while there was a nationwide shortage, Wirral Council had "systemic problems" meeting timescales for completing EHC assessments which had been noted in an Ofsted inspection more than three years ago so "pre-date" spikes in demand last year.

The council said it would be outlining the next steps on how it is improving services following a recent Ofsted inspection.

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