Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to put in place the provision required under his son’s Education Health and Care Plan between March 2023 and January 2024. This is because the Council has offered Mr X a suitable financial remedy for the impact its failures had on him and his son.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains the Council failed to put in place provision listed in his son Y’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan between March 2023 and January 2024. He says this affected his son’s progress at school and caused him distress. Mr X is also unhappy with the Council’s handling of his complaint and says the situation has been mentally exhausting for him.

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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 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

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The Council acknowledges it failed to provide Y with a reading pen and laptop, as required by his EHC Plan, between March and January 2024. It issued Y a reading pen on 8 January 2024 and provided him a laptop on 29 January 2024.
5. Mr X complained to the Council but was not satisfied with its response at Stage 1 of its complaints procedure. He therefore escalated his complaint to Stage 2.
6. The Council’s Stage 2 response acknowledged the impact the lack of provision had on Y and offered a substantial remedy. The Council agreed to pay £900 per term (£1,800 in total) for the period Y was without the reading pen and laptop and a further £500 for Mr X’s time, trouble and distress. The Council’s offer is in-line with our guidance on remedies where a child has been out of school despite Y’s regular attendance at the school named in his EHC Plan.
7. I appreciate Y’s progress was affected by the lack of provision required by the EHC Plan but the Council’s offer provides a suitable remedy for this and for Mr X’s injustice. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve anything more or that it would lead to a different outcome.
8. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has provided a suitable remedy for the impact of its fault on Mr X and Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman