Somerset Council has been fined more than £2,000 after a young boy with epilepsy was unable to access the support he needed at school.

The boy in question, known only as Y, had special educational needs (SEND) as a result of being diagnosed with epilepsy, with his schooling being shaped by an education, health and care plan (ECHP).

Y's mother, Mrs X, complained to the council after her son was unable to access speech therapy at school for months on end.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) has ordered the council to formally apologise and compensate the family for "avoidable distress, uncertainty and inconvenience.".

The ombudsman exists to investigate allegations of "maladministration" and "service failure" in the public sector – in other words, instances in which it is claimed councils have not fully carried out their legal duties to taxpayers.

Y has had an EHCP since December 2020, which set out various strategies and techniques which would support him while enabling him to remain at a mainstream primary school.

The plan was amended following an appeal by Mrs X in early-August 2021, with the new version including the use of 'text-to-speech' technology, termly visits from a speech therapist and language activities at least twice a week.

At a review of this new plan in mid-December 2021, Y's school raised concerns that no speech therapist had been assigned to support Y – with Mrs X claiming her son did not qualify for this support on the NHS and the school did not have the funds to arrange private provision.

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By March 2022, the council had finally issued notice that Y's plan would be amended – but Y still did not have access to a speech therapist, leading Mrs X to lodge a formal complaint.

The council responded in mid-April 2022, apologising for the delay in securing this service, and in July 2022 its SEND funding panel agreed to provide additional monies to ensure Y could access private provision.

The ombudsman concluded that the council was "at fault" for not making sure that support for Y was in place for at least four months, and possibly a longer period before July 2022.

The investigation also found that the council had still not issued an amended EHCP as of October 2022 – something the council blamed on negotiations with Mrs X surrounding a possible change of school for Y.

The ombudsman has ordered the council to formally apologise and to pay Mrs X a total of £2,250 in compensation.

Of this, £400 is for "avoidable uncertainty, distress and inconvenience" caused by the council's failures, £1,750 is for Y's educational benefit (recognising the support he missed out on between January and July 2022), and £100 is for a "suitable gift" for Y.

Additionally, the council has three months to provide additional training to all its SEND officers, to ensure that any shortfalls in provisions within EHCPs are noticed and addressed immediately.

A council spokesman said: "We accept the ruling and have apologised to the family for the distress caused to them all from the agreed therapy not being put in place due to a lengthy delay in funding being agreed by the council.

"We are sorry that the child could not get the most from being at school because of this.

"We are keen to learn from each complaint that the ombudsman considers.

"The recent Ofsted re-visit letter recognised that assessing what children with SEND need and making sure that they have the right support in place is an area where we, schools and the NHS need to work better together. We are determined to do this."