Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council has offered a suitable remedy, and the dispute about special educational provision carried a SEND Tribunal right which it was reasonable for Miss Y to use.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complained the Council did not tell her of the review schedule for her child (Z)’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan within six weeks of her moving into its area.
2. Miss Y also said the Council did not carry out an annual review of the EHC Plan, and did not review the plan when Z moved to a different setting.
3. Miss Y said that this meant she did not have SEND Tribunal rights, and that Z did not get the support that he required. When Miss Y complained to the Council, there was unacceptable delay in it responding to her complaint.
4. Miss Y also said that special educational provision in the EHC Plan was not sufficient for Z. Miss Y wants the Council to provide the support that Z should be receiving.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. 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 an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
6. 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.
7. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by Miss Y and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. As part of its complaint investigation, the Council accepted fault in reviewing, finalising and updating Z’s EHC Plan. It also acknowledged unacceptable delay in responding to Miss Y’s complaint.
11. The Council apologised to Miss Y and offered a financial remedy for the faults it identified. The financial remedy is broadly in line with our Guidance on Remedies.
12. We will not investigate this part of Miss Y’s complaint. We could not add to the investigation the Council has already carried out and the financial remedy it offered is broadly in line with our guidance.
13. The final EHC Plan was issued in January 2025, and Miss Y was informed of her appeal rights. It was reasonable to expect Miss Y to appeal to SEND Tribunal about the special educational provision contained in Z’s EHC Plan.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because the Council has offered a suitable remedy, and Miss Y had a SEND Tribunal appeal right that it was reasonable to expect her to use.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman