Council pays out over £1k to woman whose son missed out on therapy sessions
An East London mother whose son missed out on therapy and activity sessions has been paid more than £1,100 by Tower Hamlets Council.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found fault with the local authority, which has agreed to pay the woman £1,165 for the missed sessions.
The woman, known as Ms B in an Ombudsman report, had complained about the provision of therapies and activity sessions as part of her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) between September 2020 and July 2022.
The council was found at fault for saying she was responsible for arranging the activity sessions as it was part of her personal budget.
During a period when her son – named D in the report – was not in a school or college placement, the council should have secured those sessions, the Ombudsman ruled.
A council spokesperson told the Citizen it accepted there were delays and issues when providing the agreed support and apologised for any frustration experienced by Ms B and her family.
Ms B’s son has additional needs and in September 2020 his EHCP included a programme of speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and weekly activity sessions.
The EHCP named a school and a personal budget which included 45 activity sessions that were to take place weekly, as well as 12 sessions of speech and language therapy and 16 occupational therapy sessions.
The school confirmed that it would provide support from both occupational and speech and language therapy specialists as part of the placement.
But D was withdrawn from that school by his mum because it did not have a sixth form, then subsequently withdrawn from a college because she was unhappy with the arrangement for contact and returning home.
She complained that the council had failed to find her son a suitable educational placement between September 2020 and July 2022.
After being unhappy with how the council handled her complaint, she escalated it to the Ombudsman in March 2024.
The watchdog found Ms B had provided invoices for 11 activity sessions from April 2022 to May 2022, which the council reimbursed.
However, D was out of education for around seven months and should have received 26 lessons during this time – so D had actually missed out on 15 more lessons, which caused Ms B frustration in trying to solve the matter.
The Ombudsman added: “I have seen invoices for 2019/2020 and it was over these (in addition to concerns about other payments) that the council suggested the personal budget was being misused.
“However, I have seen no evidence that the council ever formally withdrew the personal budget and Ms B agrees that the personal budget was never withdrawn. It was fault to say that it had been in the complaint responses.”
The council has agreed to pay Ms B £1,165 to cover the cost of D’s missed activity sessions, and will review its procedures when it comes to withdrawing a personal budget.
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the findings of the report and accept that there were delays and issues in providing the agreed support. We apologise for any frustration caused to Ms B and her family.
“In response to the Ombudsman’s recommendations, the council is reviewing its processes to ensure clear communication and better management of personal budgets. We are committed to learning from the findings in the report and improving our service to ensure all children and young people receive the support they are entitled to.”