Cumberland Council ordered to pay compensation for failing to provide education for autistic child

Cumberland Council has been ordered to pay almost £2,000 in compensation after it failed to provide education to an autistic boy who had suffered a mental health breakdown.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, did not attend school from January to July last year and no support was offered by the authority according to a statement from the Local Care and Social Government Ombudsman.

According to a statement Cumberland Council has acknowledged the findings and it is working towards acting on the findings which were identified.

The child, who is referred to as boy B in the statement, was diagnosed as being autistic and attended a mainstream school when he experienced a breakdown in his mental health towards the end of 2022.

His mother, who is known as Mrs X in the statement, informed the school at the beginning of last year that he would not be attending for the foreseeable future because of what had happened to him.

According to the statement she believed her son had suffered what was described as autism burnout which led to severe anxiety because of "years of unmet sensory and emotional needs".

Despite being too unwell to participate in any education at all during the spring term last year Mrs X made several attempts to have him taught at home during the summer term.

The case was referred to Hospital and Home Tuition Service (HHTS) by Cumberland Council for lessons at home for the boy but HHTS rejected the proposal because they said there was not enough medical evidence.

His family organised separate assessment by a specialist occupational therapist who agreed that he should be educated outside the school as his attendance there had triggered the original breakdown in his mental health.

A request from Mrs X for work to be set online for boy B was refused by the school which suggested that it could provide some work and send home workbooks – but this would not be marked and feedback would not be provided by the school.

Mrs X enquired about provision at an education support and therapy centre but the school said no funding was available to cover the move.

She informed the council that she had borrowed a large amount of cash so that she could send her son to the centre once a week and she was concerned that he may harm himself if he returned to school.

According to the statement the school told the council that boy B’s could be met following a mental health assessment and Cumberland Council ruled against home schooling.

In the statement the ombudsman states: "Based on the documentation available I am not satisfied the council properly considered B’s circumstances and whether he was able to access school or whether provision was available to him.

"I consider the council should have provided B with alternative provision and the failure to do so is a fault."

In addition, it was ruled that the council was six weeks late in completing an Education Health and Care Plan, which all children with special educational needs should have.

And Mrs X was not told how the complaints procedure worked and she was not informed that she could contact the ombudsman by the council.

The ombudsman ruled that Cumberland Council should apologise to Mrs X and boy B, pay them the £1357 they had borrowed to send the child to the specialist centre and pay £500 to compensate them for the frustration and distress which had been caused.

They were also told to remind staff of their duties and implement a system to better inform people of their complaints’ procedures.

A Cumberland Council spokesman said: "We cannot comment on the individual circumstances however we acknowledge the findings of the ombudsman.

"The council are currently progressing the actions identified to ensure they are complied with in the timescales outlined in the decision."