Berkshire family owed £3k by council over SEND failures

The ombudsman found Bracknell Forest Council was at fault on several counts

A family should receive £3,000 in compensation after a child with special educational needs missed out on months of schooling, a watchdog has found.

The child did not receive the education they needed for the 2021-22 academic year.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found Bracknell Forest Council was "too slow" in finding the child tutors and a new placement.

It also delayed - or missed - several complaints from the child's parents.

The report found that after attending two days in hospital in June 2021, the child's special educational needs school arranged a part-time, half-day timetable, and in mid-July agreed to create a package of out-of-school education, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

This followed an annual review of the child's education, health and care plan (EHCP).

In August 2021, the council sent a letter to the child's mother saying it could not accept the recommendations in the EHCP but that it would seek a new school place anyway.

After the mother asked the council what the process for finding a new school was, it asked her to research schools herself from a list it provided.

By October, the council agreed 12 weeks of alternative provision while it tried to find a new school - this was to be three days a week at the alternative provider and two days at home.

However, the child struggled and felt unable to attend from mid November. The two days of home tutoring never began.

The council decided to reassess the child's needs in March 2022, and a first draft of a revised EHCP was sent in May after the mother complained of delays.

Second and third drafts were sent in early October and early November. But a final EHCP was only sent in June 2023.

During that period both parents sent multiple complaints to the council - some of which were responded to well outside of the council's own 10-day timeframe, the report said.

The ombudsman found the council should pay the family five fines - totalling £3,000 - for separate failings, including not arranging the child's alternative education up to October 2021, and for delays in providing EHCPs and handling complaints.

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