West Northants was ordered to pay £11,000 for the teenager’s lost education

The teenager’s mother told the Ombudsman for Local Government and Social Care that her daughter would not be able to attend school from June 2021.

Her attendance had already decreased and her anxiety worsened “following the restrictions imposed by Covid-19”.

In April 2022, she asked the council to complete an EHCP, and the local government agreed to complete one in June 2022, but did not produce a final plan until June 2023.

The council suggested she go to a school that turned out to be ‘unsuitable’ The ombudsman writes this in his report, externaland her mother filed a complaint with the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Tribunal.

The council issued another EHCP in November 2023, naming a new school for it to start in January 2024.

The ombudsman says it will only conduct an investigation from April 2022, because that is when the family first approached the municipality.