Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council was at fault. It delayed providing Y with some provision and has still not secured and delivered other provision as outlined in the EHC Plan. The Council also poorly communicated with Ms X when she complained. The Council has agreed it will make Ms X a symbolic payment to recognise the provision Y has not received and for the distress and frustration it caused to Ms X. The Council will also apologise to Ms X. The Council will provide us with an action plan which explains how it will improve its service to prevent a recurrence of fault. It will also remind staff of the response timescales within its complaints procedure.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She said the Council:
• delayed securing and delivering provision as set out in Y’s EHC Plan, following a Tribunal hearing; and
• poorly managed her complaint.
2. Ms X said Y missed out on provision and it caused her distress and frustration. She wants the Council to recognise it was at fault, apologise to her and provide her with a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
5. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
6. 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

7. I spoke with Ms X and considered information she provided.
8. I considered information provided by the Council.
9. I considered our ‘Guidance on remedies’.
10. Ms X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans

11. Some children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities will have an EHC Plan. An EHC Plan identifies a child’s education, health and social needs and sets out the extra support needed to meet those needs.
12. An EHC Plan is set out in sections. Section F of an EHC Plan details the special educational provision needed by the child or the young person. Councils have a legal duty to ensure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F (Section 42 Children and Families Act).

The Council’s complaints procedure

13. The Council has a two-stage complaints procedure. At stage one of its procedure, the Council should provide its complaint response to the complainant within 10 working days. If the Council has decided to investigate a complaint under stage two of its procedure, it should provide its complaint response to the complainant within 20 working days.

What happened

14. Ms X’s child, Y, has special educational needs and has had an EHC Plan for several years. Y attends a mainstream primary school.
15. Ms X was unhappy with the EHC Plan and so in early 2023, she appealed to Tribunal. Following a successful appeal hearing later in 2023, the Council issued a final amended EHC Plan towards the end of November 2023. Section F of the EHC Plan said Y would receive the following provision:
• 24 hours per year of SALT (Speech and Language Therapy);
• Between 51.5 and 55.5 hours of OT (Occupational Therapy);
• 33 hours of physiotherapy; and
• 15 hours of support from a specialist teacher.
16. In January 2024, Ms X contacted the Council and said since it issued the final amended EHC Plan, it had still not ensured the above provision was in place. Ms X said the Council did not respond to her and so she complained to it at the beginning of February 2024. In her complaint, Ms X reiterated Y had not received the provision. She wanted to know when the Council would start providing Y with the provision.
17. In mid-March 2024, the Council responded to Ms X and said as Y’s school was out of the Council area, it was not able to deliver the provision itself. It was therefore liaising with Y’s school to establish how it would deliver the provision. The Council apologised to Ms X for the inconvenience it had caused.
18. Shortly after the Council’s response, Ms X requested the Council to investigate her complaint further as she was unhappy with the response.
19. Towards the end of July 2024, the Council responded to Ms X’s complaint and said it had:
• delivered six sessions of SALT so far. It told Ms X it would reschedule and deliver the sessions Y had missed between November 2023 and April 2024 from September 2024;
• delivered five sessions of OT so far. It told Ms X it would reschedule and deliver the sessions Y had missed between November 2023 and April 2024 from September 2024; and
• arranged a specialist teacher to support Y from September 2024 which would include the missed hours between November 2023 and July 2024.

The Council recognised it had a responsibility to ensure the provision was available to Y.

20. Ms X remained unhappy and complained to us.

The Council’s response to my enquiries in March 2025

21. In relation to the missed provision of SALT, OT and the specialist teacher, the Council:
• provided evidence it had delivered Y six sessions of SALT between mid-April and July 2024. It had continued to deliver this provision from September 2024 however in error, it had not delivered the missed sessions to Y from the period between November 2023 and April 2024;
• provided evidence it had delivered Y at least five sessions of OT between the beginning of May and July 2024. It had continued to deliver this provision from September 2024 however in error, it had not delivered the missed sessions to Y from the period between November 2023 and May 2024; and
• said a specialist teacher did not start in September 2024 and as a result, Y had not received this provision so far. The Council said in March 2025, it had commissioned a specialist teacher to start however, it did not make it clear when they would start.
22. The Council did not respond to Ms X’s complaint in relation to the lack of physiotherapy. In response to my enquiries, the Council said in error, it had not delivered this provision to Y so far. It was currently contacting providers to secure the provision.
23. The Council accepted it had delayed responding to Ms X’s complaint when she initially complained to the Council and when she requested the Council to investigate her complaint further.
24. The Council said the delay in securing and delivering the provision had been caused by issues in relation to staff which had meant it had limited capacity to carry out casework.

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Findings

25. The Council has a legal duty to ensure it provides Y with the provision outlined in their EHC Plan. Between November 2023 and April/May 2024, the Council did not provide Y with:
• SALT;
• OT;
• physiotherapy; and
• support from a specialist teacher.

The Council was at fault. Y missed out on the above provision for approximately one and a half school terms.

26. The Council delayed providing Y with SALT and OT. It started to deliver SALT to Y from mid-April 2024 and OT from the beginning of May 2024 and has continued to do so.
27. The Council has not provided Y with physiotherapy and support from a specialist teacher since November 2023. This is fault. Y has continued to miss out on this provision.
28. The Council said the delay in providing Y with the provision and the lack of provision until this date has been caused by issues with staffing but it has not explained what action it intends to take to prevent a recurrence of fault.
29. The delay and lack of provision has caused Ms X distress and frustration. The Council also delayed responding to Ms X’s initial complaint and her request for a further investigation. This was fault. It caused additional distress and frustration to Ms X.

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Agreed Action

30. Within one month of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. pay Ms X £1,350 to acknowledge the loss of SALT, OT, physiotherapy and support from a specialist teacher which Y did not receive between November 2023 and April/May 2024;
2. pay Ms X £1,500 to acknowledge the loss of physiotherapy and support from a specialist teacher which Y did not receive between May 2024 until March 2025, when the Council responded to my enquiries. This equates to £150 a month;
3. provide Y with physiotherapy and support from a specialist teacher and if the Council is unable to do so, it will continue to pay Ms X £150 per month for a maximum of six months, until it starts to deliver the provision to Y;
4. pay Ms X a symbolic payment of £250 for the distress and frustration the matter has caused her; and
5. apologise to Ms X for the distress and frustration the above faults caused her. The Council should refer to our ‘Guidance on remedies’ to ensure its apology is effective.

The above recommended payments are in consideration of school holidays.

31. Within three months of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. provide us with an action plan in relation to the shortage of staff within special educational needs and disability. The action plan will have target dates and specify the steps the Council intends on carrying out to prevent delays to provision and lack of provision; and
2. remind staff to adhere to its complaints procedure to ensure they are effectively communicating with parents.
32. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final Decision

33. I have now completed my investigation. The Council was at fault. It has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused and to prevent a recurrence of fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman