Summary: We upheld Ms X’s complaint about delays in the Education, Health and Care process regarding her child. The Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by apologising to Ms X and paying her a total £900 symbolic payment for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about delays in the Education, Health and Care (EHC) process regarding her child, Y, between July 2022 and July 2023.
2. Ms X said the matter caused her frustration and uncertainty.

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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 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).
4. 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.
5. 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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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. If we investigated this complaint, we would likely find fault because:
• Ms X asked the Council to conduct an EHC needs assessment of her child in July 2022. The Council agreed to conduct an EHC needs assessment. The Council later decided the child required an EHC Plan.
• To meet the requirements of the statutory timescales, the Council should have made the final EHC Plan by mid-December 2022. It did not make the final EHC Plan until July 2023. This is a 28-week delay. This likely caused Ms X frustration and uncertainty about the content of the EHC Plan and what provision her child would receive.
• Ms X later appealed the content of the EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal. Therefore, the delay in the EHC process frustrated her right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
9. During a recent investigation by us about similar matters, the Council provided evidence of action it has taken to address how it will meet statutory timescales for annual reviews. As a result, further investigation is unlikely to result in additional recommendations because the Council is already acting to resolve the issues.
10. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused to Ms X by the delays.

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Agreed action

11. Within one month of this final decision, the Council agreed to:
• write to Ms X and apologise for the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay in the EHC process;
• pay Ms X a symbolic payment of £700 in acknowledgement of the frustration and uncertainty caused by the 7-month delay in completing the EHC process; and
• pay Ms X a symbolic payment of £200 in acknowledgement of the frustration caused by the delay which hindered her ability to appeal the content of her child’s EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal.
12. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

13. We upheld Ms X’s complaint. The Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X. It is also acting to improve its service for others.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman