A council has been ordered to pay £300 to the mother of a child with special educational needs due to the distress caused by delays in sorting out a school placement.

The mother asked for a new assessment of her child’s needs early in 2023 to help her gain a place at a new school. But she was only told at the start of the school year that there was no place for her daughter – after months of delays.

The local government and social care ombudsman said the delays caused the mother ‘unavoidable distress’.

The mother – named in the ombudsman’s report as Mrs X – removed her daughter from her school in January 2023. She said the school was no longer meeting her daughter’s needs with wraparound care.

She approached a second school – named as ‘school B’ – to ask for a placement. But the school said it would need to see an updated education health and care plan (EHCP) - a document that spells out what a council needs to do to support a child with special educational needs.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council carried out an annual review of the child’s needs in May, but it also needed paperwork from her original school ‘School A’.

The council requested this from School A in May – but was only given it in July. School B then said it couldn’t accept anymore children with EHCPs, and said the council would need to go through a formal consultation with it.

The consultation began in September – when the new school year started – and School B explained it could not offer the child a place.

The ombudsman accepted that the delays were on the part of school A and partly caused by school holidays. But it said the council was responsible for meeting deadlines.

The ombudsman also said that they don’t believe school B would have been able to offer the child a place without the delays. But they acknowledged that the delays cause Mrs X ‘frustration and distress’.

The ombudsman said: “While I appreciate that School A delayed returning the paperwork, it is the council’s responsibility to meet the EHC Plan annual review deadlines. This was a fault.

“While the delay caused Mrs X and Y frustration and distress, on balance, I do not believe the outcome regarding a place at School B would have been any different. The council has agreed to remedy Mrs X and Y’s avoidable distress with an apology and a symbolic payment of £300.”