Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure a school placement for her son. She adds it failed to provide her son with an education and the specialist provision in his Education, Health and Care Plan since they moved to the area in December 2023. We find the Council at fault for how it handled Mrs X’s son’s education and specialist provision when they moved to the area. This caused Mrs X upset and frustration, and her son lost out on an education and specialist provision. In response to our enquiries, the Council proposed apologising to Mrs X. It also proposed making payments to Mrs X for her son’s missed education and provision and the upset and frustration caused. We consider the Council’s proposals to be suitable recommendations to reflect Mrs X’s and her son’s injustice.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure a school placement for her son (Z). She adds it failed to provide Z with an education and the specialist provision in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan since they moved to the area in December 2023.
2. Mrs X says Z’s needs have got worse, and it has had a detrimental impact on the wider family.

Back to top

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. 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(i), 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.
6. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

7. I have investigated the events in Mrs X’s complaint from December 2023 to December 2024.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Special educational needs

10. 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.
11. The council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F of an EHC Plan (Section 42 Children and Families Act). The Courts have said the duty to arrange this provision is owed personally to the child and is non-delegable. This means if the council asks another organisation to make the provision and that organisation fails to do so, the council remains liable (R v London Borough of Harrow ex parte M [1997] ELR 62), (R v North Tyneside Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 135)  

Transfer of EHC Plan between councils

12. Where a child or young person moves to another council, the ‘old’ council must transfer the EHC Plan to the ‘new’ council. The new council must make sure the provision in the EHC Plan begins on the day of the move or within 15 working days of becoming aware of the move if this is later. The new council must review the EHC Plan either within 12 months of it last being reviewed or three months of the date of the transfer, whichever is the later date. (Section 15 Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014)  

Alternative provision

13. Councils must arrange suitable education at school or elsewhere for pupils who are out of school because of exclusion, illness or for other reasons, if they would not receive suitable education without such arrangements. [The provision generally should be full-time unless it is not in the child’s interests.] (Education Act 1996, section 19). We refer to this as section 19 or alternative education provision.
14. This applies to all children of compulsory school age living in the local council area, whether or not they are on the roll of a school. (Statutory guidance ‘Alternative Provision’ January 2013)

What happened

15. Z has special educational needs and an EHC Plan that another council (Council Y) issued. His EHC Plan details occupational therapy (OT), speech and language therapy (SALT) and other intervention to support his special educational needs.
16. Mrs X and Z moved to the Council’s area in December 2023. Council Y provided the Council with Z’s file in mid-December.
17. The Council contacted Mrs X in March 2024 and provided her with some information on finding special schools in the area.
18. Mrs X emailed the Council in April and asked for an update on Z’s education. She sent a further email a few days later with some schools she wanted it to consult with. She said Z was not at school and he was not accessing an education.
19. The Council consulted with several schools in April and May. It provided Mrs X with an update in May and said some schools had responded and said they could not meet Z’s needs. It agreed to chase the other schools that had not responded.
20. The Council emailed Mrs X in August and said it had not received any positive responses to the school consultations. It asked whether she wanted support from the Council to continue looking at other options. Mrs X responded and said she wanted it to continue searching for other schools for Z.
21. The Council sent a referral at the end of August for Z to receive tuition for 12.5 hours per week. Mrs X emailed the Council in early September and said she had spoken to Z’s behaviour analyst. The behaviour analyst said the focus should be on reintegrating Z into an educational setting rather than home tuition.
22. The tuition provider contacted Mrs X for a home visit but could not get through.
23. The Council emailed Mrs X in mid-September and asked who the behaviour analyst was. Mrs X did not answer.
24. Mrs X complained to the Council in late September about its failure to provide Z with a suitable full-time education.
25. The Council called Mrs X in October to offer tuition again. Mrs X reiterated the advice from the behaviour analyst and that home tuition was not suitable for Z because of his challenging behaviour. The Council said tuition was a temporary arrangement and it had specialist tutors who manage pupils with complex needs. It encouraged Mrs X to give it a try.
26. Mrs X emailed the Council a few days after the call and said Z could not access home tuition because of his complex needs. She said Z’s behaviour analyst suggested a home environment would cause confusion for Z.
27. The Council issued its stage one response to Mrs X’s complaint in November. It said it was sorry it had not secured an appropriate school placement for Z. It had consulted with several specialist settings, but it had not received a positive response. It said it would consult with more schools as a priority. It also encouraged her to engage with the offer of tuition. It said it could provide tuition at home or in an alternative setting. Finally, it said it would be in touch with her to arrange an annual review of Z’s EHC plan in early December.
28. Mrs X referred her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. She said it had failed to provide Z with the specialist provision in his EHC Plan. She said she had already explained why home tuition would not work for Z.
29. The Council sent several further consultations to different schools in late November.
30. Mrs X emailed the Council in early December about Z’s annual review. She asked it to postpone the annual review until when she received its final response to her complaint. The Council responded and asked Mrs X when she wanted it to hold the annual review. Mrs X said the beginning of January 2025.
31. The Council issued its final response to Mrs X’s complaint in late December. It reiterated it apologies for not securing Z a school placement. It encouraged her again take up the offer of tuition.
32. Mrs X and Z moved out of the Council’s area in May 2025.

Back to top

Analysis

33. The Council was first aware Mrs X had moved to its area in mid-December 2023. It therefore became responsible for Z’s education and the specialist provision in his EHC Plan by early January 2024. The Council failed to put in place any education and provision for Z in early January 2024. This is not in line with Section 42 of the Children and Families Act which states councils must ensure a child or young person receives the special educational provision in their EHC Plan. The Council also had a simultaneous duty under section 19 to arrange a suitable education for Z. Its failure to act in line these duties is fault.
34. The Council did not contact Mrs X until March 2024, and it did not start consulting with schools until April 2024. This is fault.
35. By August 2024, the Council had not received any positive consultation responses. However, it did not send any further consultations until late November 2024. This is fault.
36. The Council did not make a referral for Z to receive tuition until late August 2024. This is despite the fact it was aware Z was not at school and not receiving an education. This is fault.
37. Mrs X refused the Council’s offer of home tuition because she said it did not meet Z’s complex needs. When I spoke to Mrs X, she further explained tuition in the community is not appropriate for Z because he is incontinent and needs a secure environment which only a specialist school can provide. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had previously arranged community-based learning activities for children of a similar age to Z with severe learning needs. It accepts it failed to offer tuition for Z that was suitable for his needs and that it was not vigorous enough in following up with Mrs X about the different options. However, it also said it tried to get further information from Mrs X, but it did not receive it.
38. The Council did ask Mrs X for the contact details for the behaviour analyst, and she failed to provide it. Therefore, I do accept the Council made some attempt to understand Mrs X’s concerns about the home tuition. However, the Council did not chase Mrs X for this information. It only asked once. It should have also explored with her in more detail the different alternatives it had available and how they could be specifically tailored to meet Z’s needs. Its failure to do is fault. I also note while the Council offered tuition for Z, there was no discussion about how to meet the therapy provision in his EHC Plan.
39. The regulations say the new council must review the EHC Plan either within 12 months of it last being reviewed or three months of the date of the transfer, whichever is the later date. Z’s previous school held an emergency annual review meeting in November 2023. However, it appears Council Y did not complete the annual review process, as Mrs X moved to the Council’s area a few weeks later. Therefore, the Council should have reviewed Z’s EHC Plan in April 2024 (12 months from previous annual review). It failed to do so. This is fault.
40. The Council’s faults have caused Z a significant injustice. He was without the education and specialist provision he was legally entitled to. Children have a right to an effective education and time they miss is difficult to replace later. Mrs X has also been caused significant distress and frustration. The Council’s failure to complete the annual review on time also means her appeal rights to the SEND Tribunal have been frustrated.
41. When the Council responded to my enquiries, it accepted it was at fault for failing to follow due process when Z moved to the area. It also accepted it was at fault for failing to provide education quickly enough when it could not find a school placement. It offered to apologise to Mrs X and pay her a total of £7,775 to reflect Z’s missed education and provision for three terms. It also offered to make a further payment to Mrs X of £200 for her distress and frustration. I welcome the Council’s proposal, and it is largely inline with our guidance on remedies. I do not recommend anything further.
42. The Council has confirmed it has introduced an online case management system. This will ensure records are up to date and delays like the ones we have seen in this case do not happen. We have also recently recommended in other cases for the Council to put systems to in place to ensure it meets its duty to provide the provision in an EHC Plan, to ensure effective case management of EHC Plans and to review how it consults with schools. Therefore, I have not made any further service improvements recommendations in this case.

Back to top

Agreed action

43. By 15 September 2025 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Mrs X for the injustice caused by fault in this statement.
• Pay Mrs X the £7,775 it offered to reflect the three terms (January 2024 to December 2024) of missed education and provision for Z. We would suggest Mrs X uses this payment for Z’s educational benefit.
• Pay Mrs X the £200 it offered for her distress, frustration and delayed appeal rights.

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

Back to top

Decision

45. There was fault by the Council, which caused Mrs X and Z an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman