Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to amend an EHC plan to properly reflect a reduction in provision. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely faults.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council sent her a decision to maintain her child’s EHC plan with no changes. She complains that despite this, the Council reduced her child’s Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) provision from 12 sessions to seven. She says the Council refused to amend the plan to reflect this change of provision, which meant she could not appeal.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find fault causing an injustice. This is because the Council’s refusal to amend the EHC plan to properly reflect the new SaLT provision sessions prevented Mrs X from exercising her right to appeal the plan at Tribunal. Mrs X could not appeal the plan as it stated her child would receive 12 SaLT sessions, which she was happy with.
6. In addition, the Council issued a decision to maintain the EHC plan as is. This meant the previous final EHC plan would continue in its current form, unchanged. If the Council only intends to provide seven SaLT sessions, when the final EHC plan details 12 is required, then it is likely there will be fault as the Council would not be meeting its legal duty to secure all the special educational provisions set out in the final EHC plan.
7. We therefore asked the Council, to resolve the complaint early, to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by amending the final EHC plan to reflect that the child will receive seven SaLT sessions. This would give Mrs X the right to appeal the plan at Tribunal.

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Agreed action

8. The Council agreed to our recommendation and has issued the final EHC plan.

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Final decision

9. We have upheld this complaint because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman