Surrey County Council has been ordered to pay £18,400 in compensation to the family of a severely autistic child after a highly critical report from the Local Government Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman Report criticised all aspects of the County Council’s handling of the case, which concluded that there was fault by the County Council and that an injustice had taken place.

The Report makes very concerning reading. It shows that Surrey County Council failed to provide the support needed by a severely autistic child and his family in that there were multiple failures in terms of assessing the needs of the child, assessing risk, providing support when needed, delayed decision-making, and poor complaints handling.

Overall, the Report highlights systemic weaknesses in the County Council’s processes and decision-making.

As Liberal Democrats, we participate in the Improvement Board for Children’s Services and are aware that improvements have been made in the service more recently. But nevertheless, we are now calling on the County Council to assure us and residents that processes are now in place to prevent similar incidents occurring again in Surrey.

We have also requested an assurance that the County Council’s assessment, decision-making systems, processes, and support to children and families have improved so that other families get the support that they need on a timely basis.