Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed carrying out an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by apologising and offering to make a suitable payment to the complainant to remedy the injustice this caused. We cannot investigate the Council’s decision to name a mainstream school in the final EHC Plan, because the complainant has used their right of appeal to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about how the Council carried out an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child. She says the Council delayed completing the assessment and named a school that cannot meet her child’s needs.

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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 an injustice, 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).
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), 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 SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.

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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. I cannot investigate the Council’s decision to name a mainstream school in the final EHC plan. This is because Miss X has used her right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal, placing this decisions outside of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
9. However, if we were to investigate this complaint it is likely that we would find fault. This is because the Council delayed completing the EHC needs assessment process. This has caused Miss X distress in the form of frustration and uncertainty.
10. We have recently recommended that the Council has make service improvements in regards to completing EHC needs assessments on time. I am satisfied with these service improvements and so have therefore not recommended anything further here. 
11. However, I did recommend the Council provide an apology to Miss X and to provide a payment of £200 to Mrs X to remedy the distress caused to her by its delays. To its credit, the Council agreed to my recommendations so will write to Miss X within one month to apologise and offer to make the payment to her.

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Final decision

12. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing an appropriate remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman