Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to gather satisfactory advice from a speech and language therapist. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to gather satisfactory advice from a speech and language therapist. She says the speech and language report the Council used was not a formal assessment and did not assess the child’s needs properly.
2. Mrs X is represented by Mrs A.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X asked the Council to complete an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment for her son. As part of the EHC needs assessment, the Council obtained a report from an NHS speech and language therapist.
7. Mrs X was unhappy with the assessment and report completed by the NHS speech and language therapist. She felt the report did not correctly document her son’s needs and the provisions he needed. She said this would affect the Council’s EHC needs assessment.
8. Mrs X commissioned her own speech and language assessment, completed by a private therapist. This report contained differing professional opinion and recommendation compared to the NHS report. Mrs X provided the Council with this report.
9. The Council said it was satisfied with the assessment completed and that the report was comprehensive and satisfactory for the purposes of the EHC needs assessment. The Council confirmed it would not seek another speech and language assessment. The Council also considered the private report Mrs X provided and noted there was a difference in professional opinion and advice. However, the complaints process was not the appropriate process to address the concerns.
10. The special educational needs and disability code of practice notes the Council must gather advice from relevant professionals about a child or young person’s education, health and care needs during an EHC needs assessment. The Council has done this as it obtained a report from a speech and language therapist.
11. While we note Mrs X has obtained a private report which contains a different opinion to that expressed by the NHS speech and language therapist, this does not mean there has been any fault by the Council as it has likely met the requirements set out in the code of practice. The Council has also appropriately considered the private report and explained to Mrs X why this does not affect its decision not to commission another assessment.
12. Therefore, I will not investigate this complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation. Further, if Mrs X is unhappy with the final EHC plan once the Council issues it, she will have the right to appeal the contents to the Tribunal.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman