Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Education Health and Care Plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to appropriate remedies for the delay.

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 (Y). Mrs X said the Council had failed to meet the relevant deadlines in the SEN Code of Practice.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’  and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended)
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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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. The Council has accepted delay in considering Mrs X’s request that it issue her son with an EHC Plan. A lack of Educational Psychologists (EPs) has contributed to the delay. The sixteen-week deadline to decide whether to issue an EHC Plan was 27 June 2023. The failure to issue a decision amounts to service failure.
7. We are satisfied the Council is taking action to deal with the issues caused by a lack of EPs. In response to our findings in a previous case it sent us an action plan of its service improvements.
8. The Council has already apologised to Mrs X for the delay. It has also agreed to:
• Pay Mrs X £400, calculated at £100 per four weeks of delay. This covers sixteen weeks of delay from 27 June to 17 October. This is to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay. The Council should do this within four weeks of this decision.
• Pay £100 for each four weeks of further delay from 17 October to acknowledge the ongoing injustice. The payment should be made within four weeks of the Council deciding whether to issue an EHC Plan.
9. The Council has agreed suitable remedies and is taking to steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. We will not therefore investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has offered suitable remedies for the identified injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman