Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to provide appropriate support for her daughter, J. We find that the Council failed to issue a final Education, Health and Care Plan, failed to ensure J received all the provision set out in her Plan, and failed to ensure she received the support it had identified she needed as a child in need. The Council has agreed to apologise, make payments to Miss X and J, and issue a final Plan without further delay. It has also agreed to make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council has failed to provide appropriate support for her daughter, J. In particular, she complains that the Council has:
• failed to arrange regular child in need meetings;
• failed to reimburse Miss X for support she arranged for J when a personal assistant could not be found;
• failed to ensure J has use of a laptop at home, which she needs to complete GCSE coursework;
• failed to update J’s Education, Health and Care Plan for several years; and
• failed to ensure J receives the provision set out in her Education, Health and Care Plan.
2. Miss X says that the Council’s failings have affected J’s education and emotional wellbeing. She says that she has also suffered distress and inconvenience and has incurred unnecessary expense.

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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 the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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)
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. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. When a council commissions or arranges for another organisation to provide services, we treat actions taken by or on behalf of that organisation as actions taken on behalf of the council and in the exercise of the council’s functions. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(1)(A), and 25 (7) as amended)
8. 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)
9. 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

10. I have not investigated Miss X’s complaint about the content of the final Education, Health and Care Plan issued in August 2022 for the reasons explained in paragraph five. I consider it would have been reasonable for Miss X to appeal to the Tribunal.
11. As explained in paragraph four, we will not usually investigate when a complainant takes more than 12 months to complain to us. In this case, I have exercised discretion to investigate matters since April 2023. This is because I consider there are good reasons why Miss X did not complain to us sooner.
12. I have not investigated matters since October 2024, when Miss X complained to us.

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How I considered this complaint

13. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
14. Miss X and the Council have 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 (EHC) Plan

The Council’s duties

15. Where a council decides to issue an EHC Plan, it has a duty to issue it within the timescales set out in the legislation and Code of Practice.
16. Where changes are suggested to the draft Plan by the family, and accepted by the council, the draft Plan should be amended and issued as the final EHC Plan as quickly as possible (9.125 of The Code). The council must not make any other changes. If it wants to make other changes it must reissue the draft Plan. When the changes are not agreed the council can still issue the final Plan. Councils must advise families of the right to appeal the final Plan to the Tribunal.
17. Councils must review EHC Plans at least annually. After a review meeting, councils must make one of three decisions:
• To keep the Plan unchanged
• To amend the Plan
• To cease the Plan
18. All three decisions carry a right of appeal, but the appeal right for when a Plan is amended only arises once the amended final EHC Plan is issued.

What happened

19. J’s EHC Plan was issued in February 2021, with an amended final version issued on 23 August 2022, when J was 12 years old. Since then, the Council has issued proposed amended versions on 25 April 2023, 16 July 2024, and 29 October 2024. None of these have proceeded to a final amended Plan.

April 2023 draft plan

20. An annual review meeting was held on 26 April 2023, the day after a draft Plan was issued.
21. The Council has not provided any records relating to this meeting. However, Miss X’s notes show that changes to the draft Plan were agreed. Miss X says that an interim caseworker attended the meeting and stated that he would provide details of the required actions to the SEND team.
22. In February 2024, Miss X complained that the Council had not issued an amended draft plan, despite chasing the Council on several occasions. She said that another annual review meeting had been scheduled for that day, but the caseworker had failed to attend.
23. In the Council’s response, it apologised for its poor service and said that it would arrange a meeting to identify the required amendments to the Plan.

July and October 2024 draft plans

24. The Council issued another amended draft Plan in July 2024. The school told the Council that it could not meet J’s needs as outlined in the draft Plan. It detailed the unavailable provision and proposed alternative options.
25. In response, the Council issued a further amended draft Plan in October 2024, which included the changes proposed by the school.

Fault and injustice

26. The Council failed to document the outcome of the April 2023 annual review meeting. It should have either promptly finalised the draft Plan if no further changes were needed, or issued a revised draft if changes were agreed, as suggested by Miss X's notes. The failure to take either action was fault.
27. The Council failed to document or track progress effectively, and it failed to take proactive steps to amend the Plan until Miss X made a formal complaint in February 2024. While it has since issued two further draft Plans, it has not issued a final Plan. This is fault and has effectively prevented Miss X from exercising her legal right to appeal the content of the Plan to the Tribunal. Miss X has been left with uncertainty about whether J would have received additional or different provision if a final EHC Plan had been issued.
28. I consider the Council’s failings have also caused Miss X significant frustration and inconvenience pursuing the matter with the Council.

Special educational provision

The Council’s duties

29. Councils have 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)
30. We recognise it is not practical for councils to keep a ‘watching brief’ on whether schools are providing all the special educational provision for every pupil with an EHC Plan all the time, for example the council may secure provision which subsequently stops without it being informed. The Ombudsman does consider that councils should be able to demonstrate due diligence and as a minimum have systems in place to:
• check the special educational provision is in place when a new or amended EHC Plan is issued or there is a change in placement;
• check the provision at least annually via the review process; and
• investigate complaints or concerns that provision is not in place at any time.

What happened

31. J’s final EHC Plan, issued in August 2022, says that she should be receiving written information/notes/visuals to supplement verbal information. Miss X says that J has never received this provision.
32. Although the Council has provided no records of the April 2023 annual review, Miss X’s own records show that she raised this issue at the time. The Council’s records show that it contacted the school in July 2024 about the lack of written notes. The school stated that notes were being provided, which Miss X immediately disputed. Evidence from the school shows that as of March 2025, J was still not receiving written notes as required by the Plan.
33. The August 2022 EHC Plan also states that J should be provided with a personal laptop for writing activities. Although the Plan does not explicitly state that the laptop should be available for home use, Miss X has raised this need repeatedly since early 2023.
34. The Council agreed that home access would be beneficial but failed to provide a laptop due to uncertainty over who was responsible for funding the provision.
35. In May 2025, the Council acknowledged that it should have made a decision on this matter at the time. It confirmed that it would be amending J’s EHC Plan to formally include home access to a laptop as part of the specified special educational provision.

Fault and injustice

36. The Council failed to act after Miss X told the Council in April 2023 that J was not receiving all the special educational provision set out in her Plan.
37. It did not contact the school until July 2024, despite Miss X raising this issue repeatedly. The Council then failed to check the school’s claim that the provision was in place when Miss X disputed it. This was fault.
38. The Council should also have decided sooner whether J needed the use of a laptop at home, and then ensured this provision was in place.
39. J did not receive all the special educational provision set out in her plan, which is a breach of the Council’s section 42 duty. This will have affected J’s academic progress and likely affected her emotional wellbeing. I consider Miss X has also suffered significant frustration and inconvenience pursuing this with the Council.

Child in Need

The Council’s duties

40. Councils have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need, and promote their upbringing by their families, by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. (Children Act 1989, section 17(1))
41. Where a council decides to provide services, a child in need plan should be developed which sets out which organisations and agencies will provide which services to the child and family. The plan should be reviewed regularly to analyse whether sufficient progress has been made to meet the child’s needs.
42. A direct payment may be made by the Council to the parents or carers to meet the needs of the child. Councils sometimes arrange for an organisation to manage the direct payments.

What happened

43. In 2022, Miss X was experiencing health difficulties and asked the Council to provide some support for J. Following an assessment, the Council decided that J met the criteria for support under Section 17 and agreed to put a Child in Need (CIN) Plan in place.
44. As part of the plan, the Council agreed that J required support from a Personal Assistant (PA) for 4 hours each week during term time and 8 hours each week during holidays. In January 2023, this was increased to 6 hours each week during term time and 10 hours each week during holidays. Direct payments were agreed to cover the cost of the PA.
45. As the provider of the direct payments managed account service was unable to source a PA, the Council agreed that the payments could be used to support J in other ways, such as covering the cost of items to enable her to go on a camping holiday.
46. In May 2023, Miss X was admitted to hospital. She says she had to arrange and fund support for J herself between May and September 2023. The Council asked Miss X to provide receipts so that it could reimburse her. Miss X says that although she submitted receipts as requested, she was not reimbursed until June 2025, around two years later.
47. J did not have a PA until September 2023, when Miss X’s mother agreed to take on the role. Miss X says her mother reduced her hours at work to do so, but she did not receive any pay until April 2024. The Council provided backpay for the period September 2023 to April 2024 in March 2025.
48. Between April 2023 and October 2024, J had six different social workers allocated to her case.

Fault and injustice

49. The Council failed to ensure J had the support of a PA for around nine months. While I acknowledge that the Council agreed to pay for some items and activities for J instead, it had decided itself that J needed the support of a PA and it should have done more to ensure J received it. Especially considering Miss X was unwell and in hospital for some of the time, making it more difficult for her to arrange the support herself.
50. The Council significantly delayed reimbursing Miss X for the support she managed to arrange. This was fault and placed unnecessary financial pressure on the family.
51. The Council also delayed arranging for Miss X’s mother to be paid after she took on the PA role. This was fault. While the Council has since paid the backpay, this will have placed further financial pressure on the family.
52. The high turnover of social workers likely contributed to the Council’s failure to carry out statutory visits or review the CIN Plan at the required frequency. J’s wellbeing would likely have improved if she had been provided with consistent support.
53. The Council’s failings also caused Miss X significant stress during a period of poor health.

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Action

54. Within four weeks, the Council will take the following actions:
• Issue an apology to both Miss X and J to acknowledge the impact of the failings in this case. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance when making the apology.
• Make a payment of £4050 to recognise the impact of J not receiving all the specialist provision set out in her EHC Plan and not having access to a laptop to use at home.
• Make a payment of £500 to recognise the significant frustration and inconvenience Miss X suffered pursuing the issues with J’s EHC Plan, and for the uncertainty she has been left with about whether J would have received additional provision if a final EHC Plan had been issued.
• Make a payment of £600 to recognise the impact of the failings made by children’s social care services in managing J’s case, in particular, its failure to ensure services were in place to meet J’s needs and its failure to reimburse Miss X’s costs in a timely manner.
55. If the Council has not already done so, it will issue J’s final EHC Plan without further delay, and in a maximum of eight weeks from the date of my final decision. If the final Plan includes provision which J should have received sooner, the Council should offer a financial remedy in accordance with our guidance on remedies.
56. The Council says there is an EHC Review Recovery Plan in place, and it is recruiting seven new posts to its SEND team, including two senior officers to strengthen management oversight. The Council should provide us with evidence of the actions it is taking to improve its SEND service, and in particular, details of the action it will take when gaps in provision are reported, and how it will ensure it is able to meet the statutory timescales for issuing EHC Plans. The Council will take this action within eight weeks of my final decision.
57. Earlier this year, an improvement notice was issued to the Council to improve its children's social care services, which were judged 'inadequate' by Ofsted. The Council should provide us with evidence of the actions it is taking to improve its children’s social care services, and in particular, how it intends to minimise social worker turnover and details of the action it is taking to ensure it manages CIN cases in accordance with its statutory duties. The Council will take this action within eight weeks of my final decision.
58. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

59. I have completed my investigation and uphold Miss X’s complaint. There was fault which caused injustice. The action the Council has agreed to take is sufficient to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman