(UK) Brent: Council paid out $13,000 for autistic teen out of school for 3 semesters

Dec 16, 2025, Harrow Online: Brent Council pays family nearly £10k [$13K] after disabled son missed out on 4 terms of special education 

https://harrowonline.org/2025/12/16/brent-council-pays-family-nearly-10k-after-disabled-son-missed-out-on-4-terms-of-special-education/  

A North London council has been forced to pay out nearly £10,000 [$13K] to the family of a disabled and autistic teenager after failings by the local authority resulted in him missing out on four school terms worth of educational support.

An investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found that Brent Council didn’t provide support in line with the pupil’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) between September 2023 and December 2024, which included speech and language therapy (SALT) and occupational therapy (OT).

The pupil – referred to in the LGO report as Y – is non-verbal and expresses his basic needs through facial expressions and body language. He is autistic and has motor and sensory difficulties, meaning he requires significant and ongoing care needs.

Y’s brother – referred to in the report as Mr X – complained that the council “failed to provide appropriate education” that was outlined in his 2022 EHCP or carry out annual reviews.

Mr X claimed that Y “has been deprived of essential therapies and support critical for his development”, which has resulted in regression in his communication abilities and increased frustration, according to the report.

During this period, Y had been living at home and supported by a care package from Brent’s Adult Services. Mr X told the Ombudsman that he had to return to live with his mother in order to help care for his brother, otherwise he would have to be placed in a care home.

The Ombudsman reported that Mr X and Y’s parents have been caused “avoidable distress and trouble” in resolving the situation, whilst Y missed out on the necessary “help and support for his speech and language difficulties”.

Brent Council has accepted that it failed to provide the right education over this time and has carried out “service improvements” to prevent further incidents.

LGO guidance suggests a remedy payment of between £900 and £2,400 per term in cases where council fault has resulted in a loss of education provision. The Ombudsman put this case “at the highest end of the tariff” to also recognise the “pressures placed on the family” and set the payment at £9,600 to be used “to the benefit of Y”.

A Brent Council spokesperson said: “We apologise unreservedly to Mr X, his brother Y, and their family for the failures identified by the Ombudsman. We recognise that we did not consistently provide the special educational provision, therapies and timely reviews set out in Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan, and that this resulted in loss of education and distress for the family.

“We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and have paid compensation to acknowledge the impact of these failings. We have already taken steps to improve our processes, strengthen annual review management, and work more closely with Adult Services to ensure this does not happen again.”