A special needs student was compensated £4,500 by Surrey County Council (SCC) after he received an hour of education a week for two terms.

SCC must also provide an action plan on out how it will avoid similar failures and deliver special educational needs support to children who cannot go to school.

The youngster had been expelled in November 2022, but it took until September 2023 for the council to find him a full-time replacement. He should have also been receiving personalised speech and language therapy programmes.

The social care and education watchdog said this was “nowhere near the full-time education the council should have delivered”.

When the council failed to find a new school it referred him to their short-term home education service. The service began in January 2023, but only for an hour a week. It was not until March when SCC asked its service to up his hours, but he never received it.

A complaint was lodged in April, and the following month the council was able to find an external provider. By end of July, before any education had been delivered, the provider told SCC it could no longer help.

In September 2023, when the council placed him in a new school, his learning started up again.

SCC Leader, Cllr Tim Oliver said: “The council has not always got things right for all families and that the support and service that some children with additional needs and disabilities and their families receive is not always of the standard that we would expect, and I am sorry about that.

“We are working hard to improve services, and our most recent Local Area SEND Inspection noted progress is underway. We are resolute in our ambition to continue to improve services and outcomes for children and young people with additional needs and disabilities.”