Summary: Mrs M has found her dealings with the Council’s Special Educational Needs Service extremely frustrating. She could share her experiences with Ofsted during the next inspection. Mrs M is concerned about her son, B’s transfer to post-16 education. The Council must amend B’s Education, Health and Care Plan by 31 March if he is to transfer to college. It is too soon to consider her complaint about the transfer now.

The complaint

1. Mrs M complains about her dealings with the Council’s Special Educational Needs and Disability Service which she has found extremely frustrating. In particular, Mrs M complains:
• she does not have a designated case officer she can contact;
• she does not have a direct telephone number for anybody in the Service;
• she finds it frustrating dealing with the Council’s call centre as the people she speaks to are not familiar with her son’s case and she has to explain everything from the beginning;
• she finds the Council’s secure email system, Egress, difficult to use;
• the ‘portal’ the Council has promised parents to interact with the Service has been delayed;
• she does not know what is happening with her request for a review of her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan; and
• nobody from the Council attended her son’s last annual review.
2. Mrs M was concerned her son’s school placement was at risk of breakdown. She wanted the Council to hold an emergency review to amend his EHC Plan and name a new placement. She was unhappy the placement she identified – a college – would not accept her son at the beginning of Year 11.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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’.
4. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider the concerns raised.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered:
• information provided by Mrs M;
• information provided by the Council, including its response to Mrs M’s complaints.
6. I invited Mrs M and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

7. Mrs M’s son, B, is 16. He is a pupil at a special school. He is in Year 11.
8. Recent changes in staff and pupils at the school unsettled B and caused him considerable anxiety. Mrs M asked for an emergency review of B’s EHC Plan. She identified a small college she thought would better suit B’s needs, but the college said it could not offer B a place because he was too young. The college suggested a ‘split placement’ with B spending three days at school and two days at college. The Council said it was for the school to decide whether to fund the split placement.
9. Mrs M said she finds her dealings with the Council very stressful. She explained it was this, rather than B’s placement, that she wants the Ombudsman to consider. She is concerned the Council will miss the deadline for amending B’s EHC Plan in time for his transfer to post-16 education.
10. Mrs M says she wants the Council to provide the ‘portal’ service it has been promising for some time. She believes this will make her dealings with the Council more straightforward.

Consideration

Mrs M’s dealings with the Council

11. Mrs M has clearly found her dealings with the Council very frustrating. Mrs M has strongly held views on how the Council should run the Service, based on her experience with other councils. The Ombudsman is not best placed to consider Mrs M’s complaints. We cannot tell the Council how to organise its staff or run the service.
12. Ofsted is the regulator responsible for inspecting council special educational needs services. Ofsted invites service users and their parents to share their experiences. I understand Ofsted is due to inspect the Council in the next 12 – 24 months. This will be an opportunity for Mrs M to raise her concerns.

Changes to B’s EHC Plan

13. When Mrs M first complained, she was concerned that B’s school placement was at risk of breaking down. She wanted to secure a place for him at a small college. She was concerned that any delay by the Council would mean she missed the opportunity to secure a place. Things have moved on, and Mrs M is now focussed on plans for B’s post-16 education.
14. If B is to transfer to a post-16 institution at the end of Year 11, the Council must review and amend his EHC Plan by 31 March. Mrs M is understandably keen to ensure plans are in place in time for B’s transfer. However, as the deadline has not yet passed, and the Council has not yet (as far as I know) completed the review, it is too soon to consider a complaint about the transfer.

Mrs M’s comments on my draft decision

15. In response to my draft decision, Mrs M explained she had complained because she was unhappy with the way the Council conducted annual reviews of B’s EHC Plan. She believed B’s school was no longer suitable, and she was unhappy the annual reviews had not addressed her concerns. She said it was this, rather than the frustrations of her dealings with the Council, she wanted the Ombudsman to consider.
16. Following an annual review meeting, the Council must decide within four weeks whether to amend a Plan. Regulations set out the process, and timescales, for amending a Plan. Parents have a right to appeal to the Tribunal if they disagree with the Council’s decision. Mrs M wanted the Council to amend B’s Plan and name a different school. However, the school she wanted the Council to name was not suitable. It was a post-16 college, and B was too young to attend. The records show arrangements for a meeting to discuss the issues in September 2019, but I do not know whether the meeting went ahead. In the event, B remained at the same special school.
17. I have decided not to investigate this matter further, since the solution Mrs M sought at the time – a place for B at a post-16 college – was not available and in any event, now is the time to address Mrs M’s concerns as B prepares for a possible transition to post-16 education.

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Final decision

18. I have ended my investigation. Mrs M could tell Ofsted about her experiences dealing with the Council’s Special Educational Needs Service when Ofsted carries out the next inspection. The deadline by which the Council must amend B’s EHC Plan if he is to transfer to a post-16 college has not yet passed, so it is too soon to consider Mrs M’s complaint from about the process. While there may have been problems with the last annual review of B’s EHC Plan, I have decided not to investigate the matter further for the reasons set out above.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman