Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about Education Health and Care Plan delays. We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint as the Council has now agreed to provide a reasonable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council failed to meet the Education Health and Care Plans (EHC Plan) statutory timescales in assessing her child, B’s EHC needs and in issuing an EHC Plan.

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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 a council 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 Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Background procedure

5. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an EHC Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.
6. Statutory guidance ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (‘the Code’) sets out the process for carrying out EHC assessments and producing EHC Plans. The guidance is based on the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEN Regulations 2014. It says the following: 

• The process of assessing needs and developing EHC Plans “must be carried out in a timely manner”. The Council must complete steps as soon as practicable. 
• If the Council carries out an assessment, it must decide whether to issue an EHC Plan or refuse to issue an EHC Plan within 16 weeks.
• If the Council decides to issue an EHC Plan, the whole process from the point of an assessment request until the final EHC Plan issue must take no more than 20 weeks (unless certain specific circumstances apply);  

This case events

7. Mrs X says the Council should have issued B’s EHC Plan by mid September 2024. It still has not. The Council says a national shortage of Educational Psychologists caused the delay.
8. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice because the Council has failed to follow the EHC Plan regulations timescales.

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Agreed action

9. The Council has previously agreed an action plan with us for its Education Psychologists’ delays. In line with our remedies guidance the Council has agreed to:
• Within one month of our final decision pay Mrs X £100 to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to her and B by the Council’s failure to issue B’s final EHC plan in line with statutory timescales.
• When the Council issues B’s final EHC provide Mrs X with a further financial remedy. This is to acknowledge the continued injustice caused by the delay in issuing B’s final EHC plan. The Council should calculate the payment at £100 per month in line with the recommendation above. The Council should make this payment to Mrs X within one month of the date of the final EHC plan.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman