Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to ensure Y received all the provision set out in his Education, Health and Care Plan and failed to provide holiday free school meals support. The Council was at fault, meaning Y missed out on provision he was entitled to and causing confusion for Miss X. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X, make a payment to reflect the injustice, secure the provision set out in Y’s plan, and provide clarity to Miss X around holiday free school meals support.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to ensure her son, Y received the Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) and Occupational Therapy (OT) provision set out within his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan from the start of the academic year 2022/23 and failed to provide free school meal payments through its school holiday payment scheme. Miss X says the missed provision has deeply impacted Y and caused her financial strain.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
5. 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(1), as amended)
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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What I have and have not investigated

7. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
8. Miss X first brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in July 2024. This means anything that took place prior to July 2023 has been raised late. However, Miss X has explained there were several personal circumstances that prevented her from raising her complaint sooner. Based on what Miss X has said, I have exercised discretion to look back to September 2022.
9. I have investigated up to the point Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in July 2025. Any mention below of events that took place before September 2022 or after July 2025 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and policy

12. A child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) may have an EHC Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the Tribunal or the council can do this.
13. The EHC Plan is set out in sections which include section F: The special educational provision needed by the child or the young person. 
14. Councils have a legal duty to make sure a child or young person receives all the special educational provision set out in section F of their EHC plan (section 42(2) of the Children and Families Act 2014).
15. We accept it is not practical for councils to keep a ‘watching brief’ on whether schools and others are providing all the special educational provision in section F for every pupil with an EHC Plan. We consider councils should be able to demonstrate appropriate oversight in gathering information to fulfil their legal duty. At a minimum we expect them to have systems in place to: 
• check the provision at least annually during the EHC review process; and 
• quickly investigate and act on complaints or concerns raised that the provision is not in place at any time. 

What happened

16. I have summarised below some key events leading to Miss X’s complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
17. Y has SEN and his education is supported by an EHC Plan. Y’s EHC Plan provided for small group learning and teaching from staff experienced in working with pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Y’s EHC Plan provided for 15 sessions of direct input from a qualified SALT in the first year, then eight sessions in subsequent years if Y achieved success in the first year of the programme. Y’s EHC Plan also provided for 10 sessions of direct OT. Y’s EHC Plan states the OT needs to be Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) registered, have postgraduate training and experience in sensory processing, ASD, ADHD and must have worked with a number of children/adolescents that have been out of school and have had difficult educational histories.
18. Y had been receiving the provision named in his EHC Plan in school, including the SALT and OT provision. However, the SALT and OT provision stopped and the Council was not notified of this. As a result, it was not in place when Y began back at school for the start of term in September 2022.
19. In early 2024 Miss X became aware Y was not receiving the SALT and OT set out in his EHC Plan and complained to the Council. Miss X also explained she had not been receiving free school meal vouchers in the school holidays, which she believed she was entitled to.
20. The Council explained it had commissioned Y’s SALT and OT in school, but was not notified when this came to an end. The Council offered to make a payment equivalent of the missed sessions at a rate of £115 per session, and with the assumption Y’s SALT would have reduced to eight sessions per year after the first year. The Council also said it would now source and fund the therapies. The Council said as Y was attending an out of borough school, Miss X would need to contact that borough’s Council to request free school meal vouchers in the school holidays.
21. The Council made several referrals to therapists but could not find one who could meet the provision set out in Y’s EHC Plan. The Council has said it is experiencing difficulties finding a therapist who meets the training and experience requirements specified in Y’s EHC Plan.

Analysis

22. The Council owes Y a duty to ensure he receives all the provision set out in his EHC Plan. This duty is owed personally to Y and is non-delegable. That the Council did not ensure Y received all SALT and OT provision from September 2022 is fault. As a result, Y did not receive the provision he was entitled to across the period I have investigated. This is injustice.
23. I understand the Council has said the provision was previously in place but was stopped without it being informed. However, the Council was under a duty to maintain oversight of the provision and check this at least annually and failure to do so remains fault. I also understand the Council’s point that it has been difficult to source a therapist who meets the training and experience requirements specified in Y’s EHC Plan. However, this does not change the Council’s duty to secure the provision as it is set out in Y’s EHC Plan and failure to do so remains fault. As a result of these faults, the injustice was allowed to continue across the timeline I have investigated.
24. Having looked through correspondence between the Council and Miss X, there appears to have been confusion around what Miss X was referring to when she queried why she was not receiving holiday free school meals support. I cannot see that Miss X was ever given a full explanation about this entitlement or how to claim it, and she appears to have been given conflicting advice, which amounts to fault and would have caused confusion and uncertainty, which is injustice.

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Action

25. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council should complete the following actions within one month of the date of this decision:
• Write to Miss X to apologise for failing to ensure Y received all the provision set out in his EHC Plan between September 2022 and July 2025 and for the confusion around communicating her holiday free school meal entitlement. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Miss X £9,000 to recognise the impact of the loss of SALT and OT provision between September 2022 and July 2025.
• Ensure the SALT and OT provision for the 2025/26 academic year is secured and offer Miss X additional sessions to address any shortfall for the year to now, or a payment equivalent to the rate set out above to cover the period Y was without this.
• Write to Miss X setting out how she can make a claim for holiday free school meals support and whether this can be backdated to September 2022.
26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

27. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman