Bromley council pays mum it let down over childcare plan

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

Bromley council has paid a mum £750 after failing to amend her son’s care plan for nearly two years.

The authority was criticised in a Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman report which claimed the council had failed to meet the statutory timescales for reviewing a student’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.

The report said an annual review meeting for the mother’s son, called W in the report, reportedly took place on February 11, 2022 to determine changes to his EHC plan.

Following the meeting, the authority reportedly failed to notify Ms X, the child’s mother, of its intention to amend the EHC plan and did not send her the draft amended plan.

The council was also criticised for not informing the mother on details of changes in the final plan and for not issuing the final EHC plan within 12 weeks of the review meeting.

The ombudsman said the prolonged delay meant the next annual review meeting took place before the previous year’s review process had been completed.

The report added that Bromley council again failed to notify Ms X on whether the EHC plan was to be amended, maintained or scrapped entirely at another annual review meeting in May 2023.

A Bromley council spokesman said: “Bromley council had already acknowledged the difficulties it had faced in progressing this EHC plan prior to the involvement of the Ombudsman. It upheld the mother’s complaint, cooperated fully with the Ombudsman’s investigation and agreed with the proposed remedial action.”

They added: “The council is committed to providing every child in its borough with the best possible education but sometimes struggles when the available resources, both from within the council and outside agencies, are insufficient to provide the service we would wish to the ever-growing numbers of families seeking support.”

Pictured top: The Bromley Civic Centre, located on Stockwell Close (Picture: Joe Coughlan)