Hartlepool Borough Council To Pay £2700 in Compensation After Education Failings Leave Family Let Down...
Hartlepool Council Agrees £2,700 Payment After Girl Misses Nine Months of Education
6th November 2026
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has ordered Hartlepool Borough Council to apologise and make payments totalling £2,700 after an Ombudsman investigation found its delays left a girl without education for nine months.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman upheld a complaint from the child’s father, finding that Hartlepool Borough Council took far too long to consider its responsibility to arrange alternative education when his daughter was struggling to attend school because of her mental health.
The decision also criticised Hartlepool Borough Council’s handling of the father’s complaint, finding its delayed response caused avoidable frustration and distress during an already difficult period.
In the complaint which was published to the ombudsman's website, The family are identified only as Mr X and his daughter, Y, to protect their identities.
Y experienced reportedly mental health difficulties during 2024 which affected her attendance to school. She received support from mental health professionals and was assessed by an educational psychologist and an occupational therapist.
A move to another school in November 2024 did not resolve the difficulties, where, the following month, her father contacted Hartlepool Borough Council to explain that the gradual transition meant his daughter was missing education.
Although council officers attended meetings and offered advice to support her return to school, the Ombudsman found Hartlepool Borough Council had failed to consider promptly whether it should arrange education elsewhere.
Under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996, councils must arrange suitable alternative education where a child cannot attend school because of illness, exclusion or other circumstances and would otherwise go without suitable provision.
According to the decision, Hartlepool Council reportedly knew about the child's attendance difficulties back in November 2024 but failed to consider its Section 19 duty until May 2025 — six months later, with the child's father specifically requesting alternative provision in April and again in June.
At a panel meeting in May, the council agreed additional inclusion support and secured two hours of weekly teaching from a specialist service. The panel considered that full-time provision would not be appropriate at that stage.
However, the Ombudsman found a further delay before the child accessed alternative provision in September.
Taken together, the ombudsman concluded that the delays left her without education for nine months, equivalent to approximately two-and-a-half school terms.
Hartlepool Borough Council maintained that it had provided suitable support for the child and did not uphold the fathers complaint.
The Ombudsman, however took a different view, finding fault in both the delay over education and in the time taken by Hartlepool Borough Council to answer his complaint.
To remedy the identified failings, Hartlepool Borough Council was ordered to pay Mr X £2,500 in recognition of his daughter’s missed education and a further £200 for the distress caused by its delayed complaints response.
Hartlepool Borough Council has also been ordered to apologise to the family for both failures and provide evidence of compliance to the Ombudsman. The actions were required within four weeks of the decision.
