Mum to get compensation

18 August 2010, 06:00

Gloucestershire County Council hase been ordered to pay £6,500 in compensation to the Gloucestershire mum of a boy with special needs.

A report by the Local Governmet Ombudsman found council failings meant for at least four months the boy recieved less than 50 percent of the education he was entitled to.

Ombudsman Tony Redmond says:

"Ms Clarke' (real names are not given for legal reasons) complained that the council failed to provide sufficient education for her son 'Michael', after she had withdrawn him from school. In particular, that the council named a school on his statement of special educational neeeds that was unable to accommodate him, and that the home tuition he received was insufficient to meet his needs. Mc Clarke says that she  had to take time off work while Michael was educated at home and lost income as a result.

"The council should have sought to ensure such full-time tuition was in place for Michael, and I do not accept it was Ms Clarke's responsibility to have to request this."

Duncan Jordan, Interim Group Director of Children’s Services at Gloucestershire County Council said: 

"This was an unusual and complex case, falling outside of our existing policies for children who have been taken out of school. As a direct result, we have now changed our admissions protocol for pupils with special needs as well as improving the way we monitor the way cases progress. All of these changes should prevent a situation like this occurring again. We apologise to the family for any distress caused by the child’s time spent out of education."