Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education Health and Care Plan process for the complainant’s son. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about delay in the Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process for her son.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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. The SEN Code of Practice states Councils must complete the EHC Plan process in 20 weeks. Legislation and statutory guidance provide limited exceptions to this. One exception is where it is impractical to request advice from an education setting if they are closed for a continuous period of four weeks or more.
6. Mrs X is unhappy the Council asked for information from her son’s school. This effectively extended the 20-week process. Mrs X does not think the Council needed the information to proceed with her request for an EHC Plan.
7. We will not start an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.
8. The Council decided it needed information from Mrs X’s son’s school to proceed with her request. That is a decision the Council was entitled to take. The exception the Council has relied on exists partly because schools are closed for long periods over the summer. The Council has applied it to Mrs X’s case and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant us investigating.
9. I understand the Council originally refused Mrs X’s request to proceed with an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment. It has now changed this decision and a revised timetable applies. If the Council decided not to issue an EHC Plan Mrs X would have the right to appeal to a statutory tribunal.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman