Hertfordshire County Council has agreed to pay £3,650 to the parents of a teenager with special educational needs after failing to provide the support he needed for up to three years.

An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman concluded the boy, who has autism, had been left "without a significant proportion" of support.

His mother said it left her son distressed, with low self-esteem and feeling socially isolated.

The Ombudsman report said as part of support specified in his Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), the teenager was expecting to receive four hours of academic support every half term – totalling 24 hours.

But between September 2020 and July 2021, it was reported that he received less than three hours, while the Ombudsman added the boy did not receive the specified help with social skills between September 2018 and April 2019 – nor between September 2020 and July 2021.

And nor did he receive support for emotional wellbeing between May 2019 and March 2020 – with support not fully provided until March 2021.

Following the investigation by the Ombudsman, the council said it takes the findings "very seriously" and is reviewed working practices.

The council has apologised and agreed to pay the boy and his family £500 to recognise their frustration and distress, and a further £2,900 for the special education provision that he lost, and a further £250 for the provision he may have been entitled to between May and July 2020.

In addition the council has agreed to arrange for the boy to receive an extra 24 hours of one-to-one support to account for the time he missed, while it has been agreed for a senior officer to review the provision currently in place, to ensure it is delivered properly.

The council says Hertfordshire has seen a 47 per cent increase in pupils with EHCPs since 2019 and is one of the largest local authority areas in England, having the sixth highest number of children and young people requiring EHCPs.

A spokesperson said: "While this in no way excuses our failure to provide adequate EHCP provision in this case, the county council, in common with many local authorities, experienced an unprecedented level of demand for specialist SEND provision during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"In recognition of this gap in specialist provision, we have taken on considerable work to identify how best to meet the increasing needs of our children and young people, and ensure we have the best provision to meet those needs."

They said this work includes an increase in investment into SEND funding in mainstream schools from £9.5m to £17.5m this year, the creation of more than 300 new permanent special school places and the development of a county-wide pattern of specialist resource provision in mainstream schools.