This follows other recent concerns raised by Croydon parents about failures to deliver legally required Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
The watchdog said the failings resulted in Y missing two and a half terms of education and caused significant distress to both Y and their mother, Mrs X.
An Ombudsman report found that Mrs X and Y moved into Croydon in July 2024, from which point the council became legally responsible for delivering the support set out in Y’s EHCP.
EHCPs are legally binding documents that set out the support a child with special educational needs must receive from their local authority.
Government data shows that 97,700 new EHCPs were issued nationally in 2024, up 15.8% on 2023, continuing a steady annual increase since the plans were introduced in 2014.
Despite this duty established in summer 2024, the council had still not secured a school place or provided any of the specialist support outlined in the plan by the start of the new school year in September that year.
The child has a diagnosis of autism and faces emotional, social, and learning challenges.
Y’s plan guaranteed one-to-one support in every lesson and a highly structured daily routine, alongside visual supports, small group sessions and specialist emotional help. However, none of these essential measures were ever put in place.
In October 2024 the council suggested home tuition instead of arranging a school placement, even though Mrs X had made clear that the home environment was unsuitable.
The Ombudsman found that the council had asked its tuition provider to explore alternative venues and transport options, but no arrangements were ever finalised.
Investigators also highlighted serious failings in oversight and noted that even a fully organised tuition programme would not have met Y’s specialist needs. As a result, Y remained completely out of school, missing the education and support they were legally entitled to, which had a significant impact on their development.
In early 2025 the council amended Y’s plan to name a particular school that Mrs X had requested for a considerable period of time.
However, the placement still could not proceed because the school was unable to recruit the one-to-one support worker Y required.
Although the council agreed to fund the role, no appointment had been made by late April.
Y continued to go without education until the family relocated to a different council area in May 2025.
The Ombudsman emphasised that the personalised nature of an EHCP cannot be delegated to schools or external providers, and the council remains responsible for ensuring all elements are delivered.
This meant the council was responsible for every failure over the nine months Y was without education.
The Ombudsman found that the council’s failings amounted to an ‘injustice’ and required it to apologise to Mrs X and Y and pay £3,750 to recognise the impact on Y’s education and development.
The council will also pay £150 to Mrs X for the distress caused and must improve its systems for supporting children with EHCPs who are out of school.
Several families told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) last month that speech and language therapy for their children had been stopped without warning, leaving them uncertain whether their children’s rights were being upheld.
Several Croydon parents said they discovered their children’s speech and language therapy contracts had been terminated without any communication from the council. Families reported waiting weeks for information, with some describing the situation as “like banging our heads against a brick wall”.
Amy Jones, another local parent, said her eight-year-old son had lost essential therapy despite it being written into his EHCP as a legal entitlement.
She said she was shocked that support could be withdrawn so easily and expressed concern about the long-term impact on her child.
The council said the abrupt ending of therapy was due to it switching to a new provider, with a delay between the ending of the previous service and start of the new one.
A spokesperson for Croydon Council said: “We have accepted the Ombudsman’s findings in full and taken on board the recommendations.
“We have sincerely apologised to Mrs X and have paid the recommended compensation.
“We have reminded staff that if the council asks another organisation to arrange and deliver support in an EHCP, the council remains responsible and must maintain oversight. We have also reviewed how we manage special educational support for children who receive it outside of school.
“We have updated the Ombudsman on our actions, and the Ombudsman is satisfied this should prevent a similar situation happening in future. We are committed to providing high-quality education, opportunities and support for pupils with special educational needs.”
