Summary: We have found no fault with how the Council secured the provision in Miss X’s son’s Education Health Care Plan. Y did not receive all the provision, but this was not due to fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council has failed to deliver the Education Other Than in School (EOTIS) package in her son’s (Y’s) EHC Plan. She said the Council agreed to 25 hours per week, but he is only receiving 6 hours per week. Miss X says that Y is missing the provision he needs and it is causing him and the whole family distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have investigated between March 2025, when the Council agreed to Education Otherwise Than At School, and September 2026, when Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman. I have investigated Miss X’s complaint about missed provision during this period.
7. I have not investigated matters surrounding Miss X’s request for a personal budget direct payment. The Council rejected Miss X’s request and Miss X has the right to request a review of this decision.
8. I have not investigated matters surrounding Miss X’s complaint that the Council will not secure provision during the school holidays. This should be raised through the EHC Plan annual review process, and then Miss X could appeal the final amended EHC Plan.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

EHC Plan

11. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the Tribunal or the council can do this.

Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS)

12. This is special educational provision arranged by councils for children and young people who do not attend mainstream schools or colleges. It is used when a school or college setting is not appropriate for the child or young person with an EHC Plan, either for all or part of their education.

Personal Budgets

13. A Personal Budget is the amount of money the council has identified it needs to pay to secure the provision in a child or young person’s EHC Plan. One way that councils can deliver a Personal Budget is through direct payments. These are cash payments made to the child’s parent or the young person so they can commission the provision in the EHC Plan themselves.
14. A child’s parent or the young person has the right to request a Personal Budget when the council has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed it will prepare an EHC Plan. They may also request a Personal Budget during a statutory review of an existing EHC Plan.
15. The final allocation of a Personal Budget must be sufficient to secure the agreed provision specified in the EHC Plan and must be set out as part of that provision.
16. If the council refuses a request for a direct payment, it must set out the reasons in writing and inform the child’s parent or the young person of their right to request a formal review of the decision.

Alternative provision

17. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that the council must arrange suitable alternative educational provision when it finds that a child is unable to attend school because of a permanent exclusion, an illness, or for any other reason which make the school inaccessible to the child. The alternative educational provision must be suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs they have.

What happened

18. Miss X’s son, Y has SEN and an EHC Plan.
19. In March 2025, the Council approved Miss X’s request for Education Other Than At School (EOTAS). It named this in Section F of Y’s amended final EHC Plan in May. The Council agreed a package of 19 hours per week. This included a mixture of mentoring, tuition and outdoor leaning.
20. Y was already engaging with an online mentoring service. The Council agreed to the continuation of this.
21. Between March and August 2025, provider 1 tried to engage with Y but was unsuccessful. Miss X raised concerns with the suitability of the provision. During this time, the Council and the provider offered several meetings to Miss X to discuss Y’s provision.
22. In August 2025, the Council and Miss X discussed alternative providers. The Council said that the majority of the ones suggested by Miss X were not on the Council’s approved list.
23. Following a meeting in mid-August, Miss X and the Council agreed for provider 2 to start in September. The Council also agreed to increase Y’s provision to 25 hours per week in recognition of the missed provision since March.
24. Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in September 2025.

Update

25. Since September, Y has continued to struggle to engage with three more providers.
26. In January 2026, the Council carried out Y’s EHC Plan annual review.
27. Miss X requested a personal budget. She said she would use it to purchase suitable resources for Y and to manage the provision to cover school holidays.
28. The Council considered Miss X’s request but did not agree a personal budget. The panel said that the approved provider should supply relevant resources and if not, Miss X should submit an itemised list for the Council to consider. It also explained that funding is only provided for education hours only, not holidays.
29. In May 2026, the Council issued Y’s amended final EHC Plan.

My findings

30. The Council secured what it considered to be suitable providers for Y. There is no evidence to show that the providers were obviously unsuitable. For example, Y was already engaging with an online mentor so there was no reason for the Council to believe that Y could not engage with online tuition.
31. When Miss X raised concerns about the suitability, the Council engaged with Miss X and the provider and reviewed the provision.
32. When it was apparent that the provision was not working, the Council secured an alternative provider. It did this four times between March 2025 and June 2026.
33. I acknowledge that Y has not received the full provision set out in his EHC Plan. However, I do not consider that this was due to Council maladministration.
34. I have found no fault with the Council.

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Decision

35. I find no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman