The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has raised concerns about the support provided to Hounslow children with special educational needs who are schooled out of borough after two complaints were upheld in quick succession.

In one case, a primary school girl with autism and complex special educational needs, whose Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan said she needed speech and language and occupational therapies, received neither for two full school terms.

Throughout the family’s complaint, the council never made it clear that it had a legal duty to ensure the girl gets the therapy she needed in her current school. The family thought she could only get therapy provision if she moved to a school within the council’s area.

The lack of information and advice from the council led the family to decide that moving their daughter was the only way she could receive the therapy she needed. The move led to the girl, who had been happy and settled at her original school, showing behaviours that her family had never seen before.

Having realised that moving their daughter to a different school was a mistake, the family appealed. By that point, her original, out-of-borough school place had been given to another child. In the end, the girl will be returning to her first school from September 2026.

The Ombudsman has also found the same gap in provision in another recent complaint about Hounslow council. The law is clear: if a child's support plan says they need therapy, the council must make sure they get it, no matter which school they attend. Hounslow council has not been meeting this basic legal responsibility.

Amerdeep Clarke, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

"This case is a stark reminder of what can go wrong when a council loses sight of its responsibilities to children educated outside its boundaries. A child with complex special educational needs missed vital therapy provision for two whole terms, not because it could not be arranged, but because the council did not have the right systems in place to make it happen.

"I want every council in the country to look at this case and ask whether they are confident they have proper oversight of the children in their area who are educated in out-of-area placements. Are the right arrangements in place? Do staff understand the council's legal duties? Are there systems to check that provision is actually being delivered?

"Children with SEND are amongst the most vulnerable in our communities, and the impact of getting this wrong, on their development, their wellbeing, and their families, can be profound and long-lasting. Effective scrutiny and oversight of local SEND services is not a bureaucratic exercise; it is how councils make sure every child gets the education they are entitled to."

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council should apologise to the family and pay them £1,700.

Article date: 14 May 2026