Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council delayed in issuing an Education Health and Care Plan for her son. This caused stress, uncertainty and additional time and trouble to the family. The Council apologised and has now finalised an agreed Education Health and Care Plan.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council delayed issuing an Education Health and Care Plan for her son.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
4. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint and considered the Council’s response to my enquiries. I also considered:

• The Children and Families Act 2014
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years 2015 ("The Code")
• The Council’s EHC Plan Assessment Process

6. Mrs X and the Council both had an opportunity to comment on a draft decision and I considered any comments made before making a final decision.

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What I found

7. A child with special educational needs (SEN) may have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). The EHC Plan sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The Council deals with requests from parents for an EHC Plan for their child and is responsible for carrying out an assessment and putting an EHC Plan in place.
8. Prior to issuing an EHC Plan, the Council must first undertake professional assessments. In order to complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment the Council must seek advice from the child’s parents, the school, an identified health care professional, an educational psychologist, social care, anyone else the council considers appropriate and from any person the child's parent reasonably requests.
9. A local authority must send the finalised EHC Plan to the parent or young person within 20 weeks of the local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment.
10. The Ombudsman cannot look at complaints about what is in the EHC Plan but can look at other matters, such as a failure to provide the agreed support or where there have been delays in the process.

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What happened

11. Mrs X wanted her son, B, to attend a specialist provision school when he started school in September 2019. She contacted the Council to request an EHC Plan assessment on 12 October 2018. The Council responded on 2 November 2018, accepting Mrs X’s application.
12. Mrs X contacted the Council in January and February 2019 to request updates and was informed that there would be a delay. The Council wrote to Mrs X in February 2019 confirming the delay and to inform her that the EHC Plan would not be completed until May 2019.
13. Mrs X complained to the Council on the basis that the delay was outside of the 20 week statutory period in which the Council must provide the completed EHC Plan.
14. In its response to the complaint, the Council admitted fault, apologised for the delay, which it said was due to staffing issues, and promised to complete the EHC Plan by 1 May 2019. It also said it was putting plans in place to prevent the issue occurring again.
15. The Council sent Mrs X the completed EHC Plan on 14 May 2019, approximately 12 weeks later than the plan should have been issued.

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Findings

16. The EHC Plan should have been finalised by 28 February 2019, but it was delayed by approximately 12 weeks.
17. The Council has accepted that it missed the 20 week deadline for issuing B’s EHC Plan and it has apologised for this. It says the delay was the result of a backlog caused by staff absence. This is not an acceptable reason for the delay, nor is it an exemption allowed under the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. This is fault.

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Has the fault caused injustice?

18. I have looked at whether the delay in issuing the final EHC plan has caused injustice to Mrs X and her son, B.
19. As B does not start school until September he has not missed out on any care or support as a result of the delay. There is therefore no injustice to B.
20. The delay in issuing the final EHC plan has caused stress, uncertainty and time and trouble to Mrs X. She has had to spend time from January 2019 to May 2019 chasing the plan and complaining to the Council and the Ombudsman. This is her injustice.

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Action taken

21. Since Mrs X’s complaint, the Council has undertaken daily and weekly monitoring of the progress of EHC Plan applications, with updates sent to the relevant heads of service. In future this monitoring will be more streamlined and efficient using a new IT system to generate reports.
22. Mrs X raised an issue with the Council’s communication throughout the process. In response, the Council has provided assessment correspondence templates which it says will ensure improved communication.
23. The Council is also carrying out a review of its special educational needs service, including proposals for better use of its existing resources and more defined roles of its staff.

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Final decision

24. There was fault causing injustice when the Council delayed issuing a final EHC Plan by 12 weeks.
25. The Council’s apology and proposed actions to prevent recurrence remedies the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman