Slough council ‘significantly delayed’ child's special education plan

The parent of a child with special educational needs suffered ‘frustration and distress’ after Slough Borough Council ‘significantly delayed’ their education plan, an ombudsman has ruled.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has told the council to pay £500 to the parent – referred to as Ms X – for the ‘uncertainty and frustrated appeal rights’ caused.

An investigation into the case found that Slough Borough Council significantly delayed issuing an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan for Ms X’s child, referred to as G.

G was diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition in February 2023. They also have mental health issues and challenges with communicating.

The child was electively home-schooled for several years while Ms X struggled to obtain an EHC plan. These documents set out a child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.

After Ms X appealed to the SEND Tribunal, the council was ordered to issue an EHC plan for G in December 2023.

The tribunal also ordered the council to ‘consider in good time’ a suitable secondary school placement so that G could start in September 2024.

But the council failed to issue the EHC plan within the five-week limit and G continued to be home-schooled.

The ombudsman’s investigation found that it took the council a total of 41 weeks and six days for the EHC plan to eventually be issued.

A council case worker contacted Ms X about the special education plan in February last year and offered to provide private tutoring for G until a placement was arranged. Ms X declined this.

The council then contacted schools in March 2024, three weeks after its initial call with the mother and 16 weeks after it was ordered to issue an EHC plan for G.

Neither of the preferred schools responded, and the council failed to follow up with them.

Another secondary school agreed to have G start in September 2024.

By July, when the council contacted the mother with the news about the placement, Ms X wanted to keep G back a year because of the amount of teaching they had missed out on.

She wanted G to start year six at a primary school in September 2024 instead.

But the council’s panel rejected this request and the only comment available from the meeting said, ‘in general, placements out of year group are not evidence-based’.

The ombudsman found that the council was at fault for its ‘poor record keeping’ when making its decision.

The ombudsman said: “[The council] then went on to decide several months later that it would keep G back a year. The council’s panel should have kept a record to show how it made its decision and considered what was in G’s best interests.”

In August 2024, the council agreed that its communications with Ms X had been poor after she complained about her experience.

However, the panel’s decision was not changed, and Ms X was told to appeal to the SEND Tribunal if she disagreed with the outcome.

After significant delays, a special education plan for G was issued in October last year. The secondary school chosen was not Ms X’s preferred choice.

But the ombudsman’s investigation found that the council had incorrectly recorded that the plan was sent to Ms X in August 2024.

Children’s services ultimately got involved, and the council agreed to keep G back a year, in primary school, for the remainder of the 2024/25 academic year.

A Slough Borough Council spokesperson said:  “We unreservedly apologise to the family for the delays and the distress this caused. We recognise that we did not meet the standards expected, and we are deeply sorry for the uncertainty and frustration experienced by Ms X and her child.

“In response to the Ombudsman’s recommendations, we have issued a formal apology to the family and made the recommended financial payment. More importantly, we are using this experience to drive forward service improvements across our SEND provision. We are actively working to:

• Review and strengthen our procedures to ensure EHCPs are issued promptly and in line with tribunal decisions.
• Improve how we record and track decisions relating to children’s education to ensure greater transparency and accountability.
• Enhance our approach to consulting with schools to avoid unnecessary delays in securing appropriate placements.

“These developments are part of a broader programme of service improvement within our SEND provision. “