BARNET Council has apologised to a teenage girl who was expelled from a school and left waiting for a new place for six months.

The Local Government Ombudsman has found against the council in the case bought by the girl's mother, named only as Ms Perry, following months of turmoil.

He ruled the council failed in its duty by not giving the girl, dubbed 'Jeri', a suitable tutor programme before she was finally found a new school place in May 2007.

It also criticised the council's handling of a request for a special educational need assessment for Jeri by her mother.

A spokesman from the council said: “In Barnet we are very proud of the high standards of education which our pupils receive. But those high standards should also apply to pupils who are excluded from one of the borough’s schools.

“While the report makes it clear that the council went to great effort to find a suitable replacement school for ‘Jeri’, we did not do enough to ensure that she received adequate and fully supervised provision during part of her period of exclusion in the school year of 2006/2007.

“Nor did the council carry out rapid enough assessment of ‘Jeri’s’ potential special educational needs.

“We apologise to ‘Jeri’ and her mother for that failure. We have put measures in place to make sure other excluded pupils get the high standards of education which other Barnet students receive.

“This is a difficult and complicated case, but one in which we should have done better.”

To read the original story on the Ombudsman's ruling click the link below.