Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to deliver the provisions set out in Miss X’s daughter’s Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan, and to provide educational provision. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the faults accepted.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to deliver the provisions set out in her daughter’s Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan. She also complains the Council failed to provide educational provision as her daughter has been out of education since June 2021.

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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. Miss X’s daughter, Miss Y, has an EHC plan.
6. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find fault causing injustice. This is because the Council has accepted it delayed in issuing Miss Y’s final EHC plan following the annual review, which was held in May 2021. The Council accepted this delay meant it failed to secure an educational placement for Miss Y to start from September 2021.
7. The Council also acknowledged the occupational therapy, as set out in Miss Y’s EHC plan, was not delivered and that Miss Y did not receive her seven hours of community access support for two years.
8. During its complaint investigation, the Council offered Miss X a financial remedy of £400 to remedy the injustice caused by the faults accepted. However, this offer is not in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies. Our guidance notes that where fault has resulted in a loss of educational provision, we will usually recommend a remedy payment of between £200-£600 a month to acknowledge the impact of that loss.
9. In this case, the Council has accepted the delays following the annual review resulted in an educational placement not being secured for Miss Y for September 2021. Therefore, Miss Y has been out of education since then. Further, due to being out of education, she has also not received the special educational provision as outlined in her EHC plan. Therefore, we consider £600 a month to be an appropriate amount to recognise the impact of the loss of education and special educational provision.
10. Miss X confirmed her daughter started at an educational placement in February 2023. This means Miss Y was out of education from September 2021 to February 2023. Accounting for school holidays, the total months Miss Y was out of education was 13 months. Therefore, the total payment to be made to recognise the loss of educational provision and special educational provision is £7800.
11. In addition, we consider it appropriate for the Council to also make a payment to recognise the injustice caused by the Council’s failure to arrange the community access support Miss Y needed for two years. Considering the length of delay and the amount of provision lost, we consider a financial payment of £800 is appropriate to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused by the accepted fault. The Council has already paid Miss X £400 during its complaint consideration. Therefore, the Council will only need to pay £400.
12. The total financial payment to be made by the Council is £8200

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Agreed action

13. To its credit, the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within four weeks of the final decision statement.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman