A mother had to pay £7,000 for her children’s therapy while she waited for Somerset Council to release the funds, an ombudsman has revealed.

The council had agreed a personal budget with the family, paid via an intermediary that should have released the money when it was needed.

But Somerset delayed the payment, leaving the mother to fund the provision agreed in the children’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans herself.

She told the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman she had to chase both the council and intermediary to release the funds.

Ombudsman Amerdeep Somal said: ‘Personal budgets should give parents flexibility to choose and fund the care agreed in their children’s EHC Plans.

‘However, far from liberating the family, in this case the mother has been left with the stress and worry of not knowing if or when the money would be available.’

Somerset has apologised and agreed to repay the outstanding funds and a further £1,000 to the mother.

A council spokesperson said: ‘We have recently agreed with the Ombudsman’s office to regularly share our action plan for improvements in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) services.

‘Some of the many changes required by the Ombudsman will require huge change to our services at a time when budgets are under unprecedented pressure.

‘Along with most other councils in the country, teams have been overwhelmed with the huge rise in SEND need since the pandemic which is now being recognised as a national crisis.’