A mum says she could be forced to educate her son at home after being failed by Kent County Council (KCC) - and fears it could result in them losing their house.

Rebecca Caple has been trying to secure an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for her 11-year-old, Jake, since he was diagnosed with ADHD in September 2019.

Her first application was rejected by KCC but in October it was confirmed Jake was also autistic.

Rebecca, of The Goodwins, Tunbridge Wells, immediately put in a second application and was told the process would take about 20 weeks.

Nine months on, Jake is yet to receive an EHCP and is without a place at secondary school.

Mum-of-two Rebecca, a midday supervisor at a primary school, said she was reluctant to apply for places without knowing if her son would have an EHCP, which sets out what support he should get.

The 38-year-old said: “We have two weeks now until the summer holidays begin and he doesn’t have a secondary school place whereas everyone else in his class has known where they’re going since March.

“They [KCC] are aware of his situation being Year 6 and he is supposed to be transitioning to Year 7.

“The EHCP will state his needs and then the school can see whether they can suit his needs.”

Having waited more than 34 weeks, Rebecca, who also has a daughter, Amy, who has autism, says she phones KCC weekly for updates and has lodged an official complaint.

“They take my name, my details, what the issue is and they say someone will get back to you but no one ever does," she said.

“It’s very hard to find someone who will tell me when I will get the paperwork and what’s going on.”

‘He asks me what’s going on and I have to say I don’t know’

As a result, she fears she will have to home-school Jake.

“I’m not a teacher, I got Cs and Ds at school. I don’t feel capable to have that responsibility.

"It would also mean I would have to give up work and, because I receive housing benefit, it could indirectly mean we lose the roof over our heads.

“If Jake spends the year being homeschooled I don’t think that’ll help him either because he won’t be in a school situation he won’t be socialising and he is far enough behind as it is."

She said the uncertainty had knocked her son's confidence, particularly when the rest of his class went on a transition day to secondary school.

“All the boys were asking him what school are you going to? He says he doesn’t know. He asks me what’s going on and I have to say I don’t know."

Rebecca is no stranger to the EHCP process, having successfully completed it with her daughter, who is 12 and attends Broomhill Bank School in Tunbridge Wells.

“Everything with her was much smoother during Covid, it all got done and in time for when she started secondary school but for Jake it is taking far longer.”

Last week, KCC was slammed after a local government and social care ombudsman's investigation found a backlog of 170 unanswered complaints about education and special educational needs.

KCC was told it had to write to all 170 people to apologise for the delay.

A KCC spokesman said: “We acknowledge the lengthy delays in issuing EHCPs and are already working to tackle the backlog. Over the coming weeks we will be writing to the individual families affected by the complaints backlog to apologise for the unacceptable delays they have faced.

“We are also making long-term, sustainable changes, to the EHCP processes, including annual reviews, and our ability to meet statutory timescales.

"And we are prioritising the improvement of our communications with families."

KCC is setting up new teams to deal with "outstanding workloads" and said it intends to make sure families are "better informed" about progress with EHCP applications.

The spokesman stressed that having an EHCP does not guarantee a place at a special school but rather sets out the support the individual child requires, whichever school they go to.

“A parent with a child awaiting an EHCP assessment, who is about the transition from primary to secondary school, are advised to also apply to mainstream schools of their preference, in line with all other families," the spokesman added.

“There is the possibility that the child will not be granted an EHCP or that their needs can be met in a mainstream school.”