Council officials have been forced to pay more than £3,000 to a mum after failing to provide alternate education for her child who had been expelled from school.

Leicestershire County Council has been rapped by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) after they reportedly caused an "injustice" to the mother of a child who was expelled from school in February 2025.

According to the LGSCO ruling, the child's mother – named as Miss X in documents – complained to the county council after they went six months without education and claimed the council "communicated poorly with emails often going unanswered or responded to vaguely".

She also said that the council had only provided the child with one hour of provision per week due to the child's special educational needs.

Leicestershire County Council soon responded to Miss X in November – nine months after her child was expelled – and offered £2525 for missed education and apologised for communication issues.

It didn't stop there, however, because the mother of the child decided to complain to the LGSCO after the county council apologised.

The ombudsman found that the council "had a duty to put in place suitable alternative educational provision" and said Miss X was put in "distress, frustration and uncertainty" due to the poor communication from the authority.

It also found that the mum was receiving only one hour of education per week between May and September 2025 and said it would continue to monitor the case.

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On top of the £2,525 the council paid out, the LGSCO said it must pay another £808 to Miss X for losing out on their education due the "injustice" caused – bringing the total to £3,333.

A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said: "We have accepted the findings of the ombudsman and apologise for the frustration Miss X experienced. We have also compensated Miss X and want to reiterate the improvements we have made to our SEND services already, and are continuing to improve in the future.

"All of our improvements take place in consultation with the Leicestershire SEND Hub to make sure the work we're doing has the maximum benefit for parents."