The council has apologised to a family over a child's missed education and been told to urgently update a transport policy for young adults with special educational needs.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has made recommendations with deadlines to the council following two education complaints in the borough.

The ombudsman added “it should not have taken the threat of publicly highlighting these failures for the council to take more urgent action” as the council took too long to fulfil the recommendations.

In one complaint, the council agreed to improve the service it provides to children who are being home educated, and whose parents want them to return to school.

The council failed to apologise to a family who complained, or provide them with a sum for additional tutoring to make up for the missed education, the ombudsman said.

In a second case, the council agreed to update its transport to education policy for young adults with special educational needs.

Despite agreeing to this in 2022, the process is not expected to be completed until spring this year.

Paul Najsarek, of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: "It's essential that councils put in place our recommendations and we will take action to highlight where this is not the case.

“In both these cases the council agreed to our recommendations – and timescales – to put things right for families in its borough, and at no time did it let us know these would not be achievable.

“These failures can only have compounded the dismay felt by these families following their initial complaints."

In both cases, the council has now agreed to fresh recommendations to improve its services along with carrying out the previously agreed actions.

Mr Najsarek added: “It should not have taken the threat of publicly highlighting these failures for the council to take more urgent action.

“However, I am pleased the council has agreed to the further recommendations I have made to put things right and will be paying close attention to ensuring these are carried out without delay."

The council has also now apologised to the family and provided the required payments to them.

This included a “symbolic payment” of £350 for the “avoidable distress” and a payment of £2,400 to make up for the lost education (£600 a month for four school months).

It has also introduced a range of new measures, including a new policy on elective home education.

The team responsible for this service has since been restructured and additional staff employed, the ombudsman said.

It has introduced additional support for families who want their children to be re-integrated into school and provided staff training on good complaint handling.

A council spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of the Local Government Ombudsman and are committed to addressing the issues identified in the two cases.

“We agree that the delay in implementing change when this was first identified by the LGO was unacceptable, and have now put in place clear plans to implement necessary changes in response, and have also taken steps to prevent re-occurrence of delay in responding to such recommendations.”