Suffolk girl with special educational needs left without vital therapy A Suffolk girl did not receive vital Occupational Therapy for nearly two years because of council confusion, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The girl, who has Autism and hypermobility, attended a mainstream primary school with support. The Occupational Therapy (OT) it was agreed she needed should have ...

Boy with Special Educational Needs missed out on education and support because of council errors The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has asked London Borough of Redbridge to audit all children who receive Special Educational Needs provision at a borough school after the council left a boy without the support he needed for more than two years. The boy attends a special school and has au ...

Council wrongly decides elderly woman had spent her money to avoid paying care fees North Yorkshire County Council stopped paying for an elderly woman’s care home after it decided she gave away money to avoid paying the fees, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. Following an investigation, the Ombudsman is now asking the council to reassess the woman’s finances and repay her ...

Man forced to sleep on sofa after London council offers inadequate support A man with mental health problems was forced to sleep on his parents’ sofa for 18 months because London Borough of Hounslow failed to support him properly. The finding comes after an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which found the council did not do enough to protect the man from potential ...

Councils cannot allow multiple care home contracts to run in tandem The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is cautioning councils against allowing the care homes they work with to have subsidiary contracts with clients following a complaint about Leeds City Council. The warning comes after it became clear the council had allowed Indigo Care Services Ltd to have a second contract with a wo ...

Boy misses out on a year with his peers because of council failures A Derbyshire boy had to stay in primary school for an extra year because the county council did not update his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan in a timely manner. The council has agreed to apologise to the boy and his mother, and pay them £1,000, after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found its errors caused t ...

Teen with significant support needs on brink of homelessness because Devon County Council couldn’t decide where he should live A teenager with Autism and ADHD was less than a week away from being made homeless because Devon County Council had not decided where he should live when he became 18. The teenager had been living in a children’s home where he could remain beyond his eighteenth birthday. ...

Nottinghamshire man’s care package reduced because of financial pressures, Ombudsman finds A Nottinghamshire man with autism was left relying on his parents to part-fund his care when the county council cut his package without identifying a suitable alternative, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found. The Ombudsman said the council appeared to reduce the man’s budget for financi ...

West Northamptonshire failed to provide education for numerous children with SEND West Northamptonshire Council has agreed to review the cases of eight children with Special Educational Needs, who have been out of school for long periods, following an Ombudsman investigation. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman was initially contacted by the family of a primary school aged autistic chi ...

Vulnerable Cambridgeshire boy left without education for 14 months Cambridgeshire County Council has refused to apologise to a family after it left their clinically vulnerable son without any education or support during the COVID-19 crisis. The nine-year-old, who has complex Special Educational Needs including severe neuro-disabilities and speech and language delay, could not attend his school th ...