(UK) Shrops: Council fined $4,100 for failing to provide therapy for SPED student

June 26, 2025, Shropshire Star: Council must pay £3,000 [$4,100] to mother after child with special educational needs 'missed out on a year of therapy'

W. England

A local authority has been told to apologise to a mother whose daughter missed out on a year of therapy in school.

Telford & Wrekin Council has been told to apologise and pay a "symbolic" payment after a child with special educational needs missed out on a year of occupational therapy and speech and language therapy. 

The order comes from the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman, after the child's mother - named in the report as 'Mrs X' - raised a complaint. 

The report states that Mrs X's daughter, named only as 'Y', attends a specialist school and has had an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan in place since 2022.

An EHC plan sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them; the council has a duty to ensure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in the plan.

The ombudsman's report states: "In April 2024, the council carried out an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan. The key action points included ‘prioritise speech and language therapy (SALT)’ and to ‘contact an independent occupational therapist (OT)’.

"She said at the annual review, the school said Y was on a waiting list. The council said that prior to the annual review, the school had assured it that there were no difficulties meeting the provision set out in Y’s EHC Plan. Therefore, it considered that it had met its Section 42 duty by securing the provision set out in Y’s EHC Plan.

"Following Mrs X’s complaint, the council asked the school to prioritise Y’s access to SALT to OT."

According to the law, if the council asks another authority to make the provision, the council is still liable if the organisation fails to do so.

The report continues: "Therefore, even though the council believed in good faith that Y’s specialist school was providing SALT and OT provision, Y did not receive it, and therefore the council was ultimately at fault.

"The council did not ask the school how/when it was going to deliver the SALT and OT. If the council had asked for more information from the school, it would have been evident that there was a long waiting list for therapy and Y would not be receiving provision for some time.

"This would have prompted the council to secure provision elsewhere to ensure Y received the therapy she needed. The council was at fault for failing to secure SALT and OT for Y between May 2023 (when Y started at the school) and August 2024 (when Mrs X brought her complaint to us). This caused Y to miss out on the therapy she needed and was set out in her EHC Plan."

As a result of the investigation, Telford & Wrekin Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and pay her £3,000 [$4,100] in recognition of the missed SALT and OT provision "as the shortfalls cannot be addressed as Y is finishing school". 

The council will also have four weeks to demonstrate how, in the future, it will ensure that special educational needs (SEN) provision is being actively delivered by an organisation.

In response to the ruling, a spokesperson for Telford & Wrekin Council said: "Following the recent ombudsman decision into a complaint about the provision of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, we are working closely with partner organisations to make sure SEN provision is actively delivered in accordance with EHC Plans."