A LONDON council has been blasted after a delay in issuing an educational plan led to a child feeling “isolated and extremely anxious”.

The Local Government Ombudman said Bromley Council should have acted quicker to help assess whether a school child needed special education help.

The council has now paid out over £2,000 after being found at fault.

The child’s grandmother, named only as Mrs J, wanted the boy, known as M, to undergo a Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHC).

He was attending school only 54 per cent of the time due to his mental health issues, with M also having a history of self-harm.

The council agreed to assess M in April 2020, which means the final EHC plan should have been issued within six weeks under EHC rules.

But they only sent Mrs J several draft EHC plans in March 2021, after many consultations with medical services.

Bromley council sent a final consultation in October 2021 which involved the boy going to a different school, but the offer came in 15 months after the deadline.

Mrs J complainted about the time it took to receive the EHC plan, with the council’s delay due to waiting for expert advice.

She said the delay in getting his education sorted left her grandson “isolated and increasingly anxious”.

The Ombudsman found fault with the delay, and also criticised the council not reviewing whether to increase M’s hours in education.

The report said: “In February 2020 and March 2021 the Council was aware that M was on a part-time timetable. I have seen no evidence the Council reviewed the reduced provision or considered if it needed to make M’s education full-time, or up to the maximum number of hours M could benefit from. This was fault.

“The Council’s duty to arrange suitable education starts if a child cannot attend school because of exclusion, illness or other reasons. The duty arises after a child has missed 15 days of education either consecutively or cumulatively.”

The council will now apologise to Mrs J and pay her £300 to acknowledge the uncertainty caused by fault, along with a further £1,800 over her son’s lost special education needs provision.

Bromley Council has been contacted for comment.