Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council handled her young adult’s (Y) Education, Health and Care Plan and how it poorly communicated with her. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s:
1. failure to review and update Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan since 2021
2. failure to provide Y with appropriate special needs provision and support
3. poor communication with her.
2. Mrs X said as a result Y lost out on special needs provision and support, and that it affected his education and well-being. Mrs X said the matter also caused her distress, exhaustion and it affected her health.

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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 future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), 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. When considering complaints, we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
7. 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)
8. 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

9. 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)
10. I have not exercised discretion to investigate matters from 2021. These are late complaints and I consider it was reasonable for Mrs X to have complained about these matters to the Ombudsman sooner. There are no good reasons to investigate them now.
11. I have investigated matters from June 2024 to July 2025. This covers the period from when Mrs X made her initial complaint to the Council to when the Council issued its subsequent complaint response to her in 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

12. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
13. Mrs 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

Education, Health and Care Plans

14. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (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.
15. Councils must arrange for the EHC Plan to be reviewed at least once a year to make sure it is up to date. The review process includes a review meeting, and the subsequent decision, which have appeal rights.
16. Within four weeks of a review meeting, the council must notify the child’s parent of its decision to maintain, amend or cease the EHC Plan. Where the decision is to amend the EHC Plan, the council must then issue any final amended Plan within eight weeks of the ‘amendment notice’. Therefore, a final EHC Plan must be issued within 12 weeks of the review meeting.
17. Where a parent or young person disagrees with the contents of the EHC Plan there is a right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) tribunal when the final Plan is issued.
18. The council has a duty to secure the specified special educational provision (Section F) in an EHC Plan for the child or young person (section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014). The Courts have said this duty to arrange provision is owed personally to the child and is non-delegable. This means if a council asks another organisation to make the provision and that organisation fails to do so, the Council remains responsible. (R v London Borough of Harrow ex parte M [1997] ELR 62), R v North Tyneside Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 135)
19. For young people moving between post-16 institutions, the council should normally complete the review process by 31 March where a young person is expected to transfer to a new institution in the new academic year.

Background

20. Mrs X’s young adult (Y) has special educational needs and has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
21. In 2021, Y enrolled on a two-year course and attended a post-16 college (Placement 1).
22. Mrs X said the Council did not review Y’s EHC Plan while he was at Placement 1.
23. Mrs X said Y struggled at Placement 1 due to lack of an appropriate EHC Plan, SEN provision and support for him. So, Y decided to retake his A-Levels.
24. In 2023, Y enrolled on a two-year online A-Level course with another provider (Placement 2). Y took out a loan of £2,720 to pay Placement 2 for his A-Levels courses and exams.
25. Y’s EHC Plan was still not reviewed by the Council.

Key events

26. In June 2024, Mrs X made a complaint to the Council about its failure to review Y’s EHC Plan. Mrs X said the Council did not contact her or Y when he finished at Placement 1 and no advice was given to them as to the next steps with Y’s case and with reviewing his EHC Plan. Mrs X said this was particularly as Y had been struggling with no SEN support provided to him to help him retake his A-Levels at Placement 2.
27. In July, the Council issued its stage 1 response and advised Mrs X it would contact Placement 1 to arrange an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan.
28. Mrs X reiterated that Y was no longer at Placement 1 but was at Placement 2. She asked the Council to escalate her complaint and resolve the issues with Y’s EHC Plan.
29. In August, Y paid off the £2,720 he had loaned for his A-Levels courses and exams with Placement 2.
30. In September, when Mrs X had not heard from the Council, she made a complaint to the Ombudsman.
31. In October, the Council issued its final response to Mrs X’s complaint after the Ombudsman’s involvement. The Council:

• accepted that Y’s information and records were not up to date on its system, and it apologised to Mrs X.
• said it would contact Mrs X to discuss Y’s case to ensure it held Y’s updated details on its records and then it would liaise with Placement 2 to determine how best to support him.
• said it would also prioritise and arrange to complete an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan and produce a clear action plan of events to ensure Y was supported going forward.

32. Mrs X said the Council held an online meeting with her to discuss Y’s case. Mrs X confirmed no further action was taken by the Council after their meeting to arrange an annual review and provide Y with SEN provision and support.
33. In early 2025, Mrs X said Y applied to extend his A-Levels until June 2026 and Placement 2 agreed to the extension request. Subsequently, Placement 2 went into administration.
34. In March, the Council emailed Mrs X and asked her to provide it with details of Y’s current educational setting as it was carrying out a data exercise to ensure its records were up to date.
35. Mrs X asked the Council to contact her to discuss Y’s EHC Plan because it had been out of date for years and was not suitable to meet his needs. Mrs X said no action had been taken by the Council since the online meeting that was held in late 2024 which was significantly affecting Y’s education. The Council did not respond to Mrs X.
36. In June, Mrs X chased the Council regarding the ongoing issues with Y’s EHC Plan. She expressed her frustration with how the Council had handled Y’s case. Mrs X asked the Council as a matter of urgency to allocate Y a caseworker, arrange a review of his EHC Plan and provide him with the appropriate support to meet his SEN needs. Mrs X also asked the Council on how it could refund Y with the payment he made to Placement 2 for his A-Levels courses and exams.
37. Mrs X chased the Council for its response, and she made another complaint to the Council regarding the ongoing matter.
38. In July, the Council issued its complaint response, and it:

• confirmed Y did not have an allocated caseworker. The Council explained that allocations were based on the educational placement and that because Y was receiving his education online, he was not picked up through the usual allocation process.
• apologised for its oversight, its delays and lack of communication with Mrs X.
• said it had now formally allocated a caseworker to Y’s case to resolve the matter, and the Council provided Mrs X with the caseworker’s contact details.

39. Mrs X wrote to Y’s allocated caseworker about his case and that his EHC Plan needed to be reviewed in time for his October A-Levels registration. The caseworker did not respond to Mrs X.
40. Mrs X said since Placement 2 went into administration in early 2025, herself and Y decided to wait until the Council reviewed his EHC Plan and put appropriate SEN provision and support in place for him before he restarted his A-Levels.

Analysis

41. The Council failed to review Y’s EHC Plan from June 2024 when he was at Placement 2 to July 2025 when it issued its subsequent complaint response to Mrs X. This was over a significant period and not in line with statutory guidance and timescales. This was fault.
42. The Council should have checked the special educational provision was in place when Y was at Placement 2. The Council also missed out on opportunities to have checked Y’s SEN provision at least annually through the EHC review process; and it failed to quickly investigate and act on complaints or concerns raised by Mrs X that appropriate provision and support were not in place for him to retake his A-Levels. These were faults.
43. The Council also failed to implement the actions it set out in its October 2024 response letter to Mrs X’s complaint. This was fault.
44. The Council’s failings caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty. It also meant Y was denied an opportunity for his changing needs to have been re-assessed sooner and on balance, to determine what additional provisions would have been required and put in place to meet his SEN.
45. However, I cannot say what specific injustice the Council’s failings have caused to Y. This is because his EHC Plan has still not been reviewed or finalised. Therefore, I do not know what additional provision may have been agreed and included in the final Plan.
46. The Council accepted the records it held for Y were out of date and he was not allocated a caseworker until July 2025. This was poor record keeping by the Council and it was fault. It caused uncertainty to Mrs X as to whether the Council handled Y’s EHC Plan and case properly.
47. The Council also accepted it poorly communicated with Mrs X. This was fault and caused her distress and frustration.
48. The Council apologised to Mrs X on several occasions for its failings. I do not consider this to be sufficient to remedy the injustice caused to Y and Mrs X and it is not in line with our guidance on remedies. This will be addressed in the ‘action’ section below.
49. We have recently made service improvement recommendations in other decisions that the Council should review its SEND team’s communication, internal monitoring and record keeping for complaints and resolutions. We are continuing to monitor the actions the Council takes to ensure compliance with those and similar recommendations. For this reason, I have not made service improvement recommendation about the same identified issues in this case. These identified issues are already being addressed through other cases we have investigated.
50. However, I have made further service improvement recommendations as regard other faults identified in this case in the ‘action’ section below.

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Action

51. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to complete the following within one month of the final decision:

• arrange and complete a review of Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan
• apologise in writing to Y and Mrs X to acknowledge the injustice caused to them by the Council’s failings as identified above. The apology should be in accordance with our guidance, Making an effective apology
• liaise with Mrs X to gather information/evidence of the £2,720 payment incurred for Y’s A-Levels courses and exams with Placement 2. Then, the Council should make the £2,720 refund to Y
• make Mrs X a symbolic payment of £250 to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to her by the Council’s failings as identified above.

52. Within two months of the final decision:

• provide an action plan to address how the Council monitors and completes annual reviews of young people’s (post-16) Education, Health and Care Plans to ensure appropriate special educational needs provision and support are provided to them in line with Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

53. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

54. I find fault by the Council causing injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council has agreed actions to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman