Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed completing an Education Health and Care needs assessment. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by offering to make a suitable payment to the complainant to remedy the injustice this cause.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council has delayed completing an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child. Mrs X says the delay has caused her and her family distress.

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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 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.
3. 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

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. If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely that we would find fault. This is because the Council delayed completing an EHC needs assessment by approximately one year.
7. The Council has said that the delays are caused by a national shortage of educational psychologists. We have previously found that the Council has made service improvements to respond to the increased demand for EHC needs assessments and to manage the shortage of Educational Psychologists. I am satisfied with these service improvements and so have therefore not recommended anything further here. 
8. However, the delays have caused Mrs X distress in the form of frustration and uncertainty. I therefore recommended the Council write to Mrs X within one month to apologise for the delays and to offer her £1200 for the distress this has caused. This is calculated at roughly £100 per month of delay.
9. I also asked the Council to make a further payment to Mrs X at £100 per month for any additional delays after the date of our final decision. This should be done once an appealable decision has been made, so either when the Council has made a decision not to issue a final EHC Plan or when it has decided to issue one and the final EHC Plan has been issued.
10. To its credit, the Council agreed to my recommendation. Therefore, within one month of the date of this final decision, it will write to Mrs X to apologise for the delay and offer to make a payment to her of £1200 to remedy the distress this has caused her. It will make a further payment once an appealable decision has been made.

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Final decision

11. We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing the complainant with a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman