Decision search
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Staffordshire County Council (24 015 869)
Statement Upheld Special educational needs 20-Jul-2025
Summary: Mrs X complained her daughter, Y, has been unable to access education since September 2023 and the Council refused to complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. We find the Council at fault for failing to record its section 19 consideration and for applying a higher threshold to the legal test to determine if an Education, Health and Care needs assessment was necessary. This caused Y and Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic financial payment, complete staff training and amend its decision letter template.
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Devon County Council (24 015 939)
Statement Upheld Special educational needs 20-Jul-2025
Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed issuing her child, Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan following an annual review in 2024. She also complained it failed to put alternative provision in place when Y stopped attending school in February 2024. The Council was at fault. It delayed issuing the amended EHC Plan by eleven weeks and failed to both properly consider its alternative provision duty and have sufficient oversight of Y’s education while they were out of school between April and October 2024. Matters after October 2024 are outside of our jurisdiction as Mrs X appealed to the SEND tribunal. The Council agreed to apologise and make payments to Mrs X to acknowledge the injustice caused.
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Statement Upheld Council tax 20-Jul-2025
Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to agree an affordable repayment plan for her council tax arrears. We do not find the Council at fault.
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Central Bedfordshire Council (24 016 178)
Statement Upheld Special educational needs 20-Jul-2025
Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his educational personal budget request for his daughter. We found the Council was at fault for not telling him the reasons for rejecting his request and not informing him of his right to a review. This caused Mr X avoidable distress. The Council agreed to apologise, pay him £150 and issue reminders to staff.
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London Borough of Croydon (24 016 669)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Council tax 20-Jul-2025
Summary: We will not exercise discretion to investigate this complaint about the Council’s recovery of council tax arrears. This complaint was received outside the normal 12-month period for investigating complaints. There is no evidence to suggest that Mr X could not have complained to us sooner.
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Gloucestershire County Council (24 018 287)
Statement Upheld Special educational needs 20-Jul-2025
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay and other issues with the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by the delay. We will not investigate the other issues as they are best considered by other bodies, or it is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s response.
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Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (24 018 822)
Statement Not upheld School transport 20-Jul-2025
Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly decided not to provide his child with transport to the school named on their Education Health and Care Plan. Mr X says this impacted his work and caused his child distress. The Ombudsman finds no fault with the Council’s decision making.
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Surrey County Council (24 019 039)
Statement Upheld Assessment and care plan 20-Jul-2025
Summary: Mr X complained about a failure to respond to his concerns about a homecare provider and about a failure to carry out a proper review of Ms Y’s care and support plan or agree a direct payment. We upheld the complaint. There was a delay in changing provider, a failure to give an explanation about the response to potential safeguarding issues and a failure to communicate with Mr X about whether he could manage a direct payment for Ms Y. The fault caused avoidable confusion and distress. The Council will apologise, make a symbolic payment and take actions set out in this statement.
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London Borough of Waltham Forest (24 019 461)
Statement Upheld Special educational needs 20-Jul-2025
Summary: The Council was at fault as it failed to issue Mr X’s child’s amended Education, Health and Care Plan within statutory timescales following their annual reviews, and its communication with him and handling of his complaint was poor. The Council was not at fault for failing to disclose information about support services and appeal rights. It will apologise to Mr X and pay him £250 to recognise the avoidable frustration and uncertainty caused by its faults.
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London Borough of Hackney (24 019 515)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Homelessness 20-Jul-2025
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of a housing application. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.