‘Avoidable distress’ ruling as Slough pupil is left without school place for almost a year 

Slough Borough Council has been told to pay a mother £2,250 after her child with special educational needs missed almost a full year of school.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman upheld a complaint from a mother, referred to as Miss X, after the council issued amendments to her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC) nearly a year late.

This meant the child, referred to as Y, was left without a suitable placement and missed two-and-a-half terms of education .

EHCs are plans which set out what support each child or young person with special education needs and disabilities (SEND) requires.

The council also agreed to pay an additional £500 for the ‘distress’ created by the delay in dealing with the parent’s complaint.

After Y received a diagnosis confirmation, the child’s mainstream school held an emergency annual review in June 2024.

The review found that Y’s current school was ‘no longer suitable’ and this information was sent to the council in July.

The council said that the mother requested that Y should finish the academic year at his current school and be transferred to a specialist college in September 2024.

The local authority sent the mother a form asking for her preferred placements for Y in September.

But, when the mother complained to the ombudsman in January 2025, Slough Borough Council had not found a placement for Y or issued a final amended EHC plan.

There was also a delay in offering Y alternative education provision.

After Y stopped attending school in June 2024, the council did not secure tuition for the child until April 2025.

From April, 15 hours of tuition per week were arranged for a period of 13 weeks, which was to be ‘reviewed and continued if necessary’.

The council had an amended EHC plan ready in August 2025, ‘almost a year late’, the ombudsman said.

“This was fault and that delayed Miss X’s appeal rights. It also meant that Y did not have a suitable placement for a year,” the ombudsman added.

Miss X said the placement named in the plan was a college she had not applied for and that had not agreed to accept Y.

The ombudsman did not consider this in its investigation and said the mother can appeal this to the SEND Tribunal.

The ombudsman found the council was at fault for both the delay in alternative tuition and the issuing of the EHC plan, and the mother had suffered ‘avoidable distress’.

A Slough Borough Council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We sincerely apologise to the family for the delays and the impact this had on them.

“We fully accept the ombudsman’s findings and have already taken steps to implement all the recommended remedies. These include issuing a formal apology to the parent and making compensation payments as set out by the ombudsman to recognise the missed education and the distress caused.

“We remain committed to improving our SEND services and ensuring that children, young people, and families receive timely and high-quality support and are continuing to implement wider service improvements within SEND to address the issues highlighted.”

These include strengthening annual review monitoring and escalation processes, improving the process for identifying alternative provision, and increasing staffing capacity.