Lewisham Council has been ordered to pay a mother £9,700 after it did not provide transport for her disabled adult son and there were delays in his education health care plan.

Councils have a statutory obligation to provide free transport to enable young adults up to 25 years old to attend college.

An education health care plan is a legal document from a local authority which describes a child or young person’s special educational needs and the support they need.

The document is needed before the child or young person can access services.

The council will have to pay the woman a £1,500 lump payment, and a further £300 for her time and trouble pursuing the complaint.

Additionally, it will pay £300 for delays and the loss of therapist input, and £100 a week to the mother for unpaid care and transport since September 2016.  

Lewisham Council has agreed to develop and publish its policy for assessing transport eligibility for post-19 learners, and review its policies, guidance and training.

The council will also review other cases where young people may have been similarly affected, and report back to the ombudsman.

In a similar case, Lewisham Council paid more than £2,000 to a mother last month, after the ombudsman ruled in her favour when her disabled son was not given transport to get to college.

There are currently 230 adults with emergency health care plans in the borough.

The ombudsman made 28 recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the council.

According to Lewisham Council documents: “The Children with Complex Needs Service, and Adults with Learning Disabilities team, accept the findings and are implementing the recommendations.

“While some aspects of the findings flow from an interpretation of the obligations on councils that was not expected by Lewisham or many other local authorities, the report has also highlighted shortcomings our in handling of complaints which are being addressed urgently.”