Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays in the Education, Health and Care Plan process. This is because the Council has offered an appropriate remedy. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve anything more.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about delays in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process for her child. Mrs X says the Council is not complying with the relevant timescales 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)
4. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. When parents ask a council to assess their child for an EHC Plan, the entire process should take no more than 20 weeks. If a council decides not to issue an EHC Plan, it should tell the parents by week 16. If the Council decides to issue an EHC Plan, it should do so by week 20.
9. In its response to Mrs X’s complaint the Council accepted the EHC Plan process was taking too long. It explained this is because of a shortage of Educational Psychologists (EPs). The Council’s failure to comply with the timescales in the SEN Code of Practice is service failure.
10. During a recent investigation by us about similar matters, the Council has provided evidence of action it has taken to address the shortage of EPs. As a result, further investigation is unlikely to result in additional recommendations because the Council is already acting to resolve the issues.
11. In cases like this, we consider a payment of £100 to be a suitable remedy for each month of delay. The Council has offered to pay Mrs X £100 for each month of delay once the EHC Plan process is complete.
12. The Council has agreed a suitable remedy and is taking to steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not achieve anything more and so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has offered a suitable remedy and an investigation would not achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman