Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fault in the process of amending and issuing an Education Health and Care Plan. This is because the complaint is late and there are insufficient grounds to consider it now.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, complains that fault in the process of amending and issuing her son’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) caused him to miss out on an educational placement in September 2021 and delayed her right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s son has special educational needs and an EHCP. Mrs X complains that the Council delayed the process of amending his EHCP following the 2021 annual review, which was itself delayed. She says the Council failed to communicate with her during the process and issued an incomplete EHCP in error.
6. Mrs X says that, as a result of the fault she identifies, no placement was made available for her son for the beginning of term in September 2021. The EHCP was issued in final form at the end of September 2021. In addition to the loss of provision, Mrs X’s right to appeal to SEND was delayed.
7. The evidence shows that Mrs X complained to the Council in October 2022. The complaint concerned the matters which are the subject of her complaint to the Ombudsman and subsequent matters. She complains that the Council’s response was unreasonably delayed.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us. The matters which are the subject of Mrs X’s complaint took place before October 2021. The complaint is therefore late. There are insufficient grounds for us to investigate the complaint now and we will not do so.
9. We will not comment on how the Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we have decided not to investigate the substantive issue. That is the case here.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late and there are insufficient grounds for us to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman