Summary: Mr X complained that the Council and his college failed to provide special educational provision in his Education, Health and Care Plan, had poor communication and complaint handling, did not allow him to enrol on courses he wanted and mis-recorded his personal information. We find no fault in the way the Council secured his special educational provision and handled his complaints. We have discontinued the investigation into his complaints about his college. Further investigation into the issues regarding special educational needs would not lead to a different outcome, and we cannot investigate the matters that are not about special educational needs.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council and his college failed to adhere to his Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) since September 2023. In particular he complains:
1. The Council did not properly implement the provisions in his EHC Plan and failed to properly handle his complaints.
2. The College allowed a chaotic environment in a specific class, failed to provide accommodation for a subject assessment, and had poor communication about his classes.
3. The College denied his progression onto his preferred courses, failed to arrange an apprenticeship it promised and mis-recorded his personal data.
4. The College failed to properly handle his complaints and threatened him.
2. Mr X says he has suffered severe stress, anxiety, educational setbacks, and unnecessary financial costs as a direct result of the failures.

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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. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
6. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools and colleges unless it relates to special educational needs, when the schools are acting on behalf of the council to secure educational provision as set out in Section F of the young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan.
7. 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.
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)

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What I have and have not investigated

9. I have investigated matters from February 2024 to February 2025 when Mr X complained to us.
10. I have not investigated matters before February 2024. This is because it took Mr X more than 12 months to complain about them and they are therefore late. I have decided there is not a good reason Mr X did not complain about them sooner.
11. I have not investigated matters that occurred after February 2025 because we do not usually investigate new matters that occur after a person complains to us. Mr X will need to register a new complaint if he wishes us to consider matters that have occurred since this date.

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How I considered this complaint

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

EHC plans

14. A child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) 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. The EHC Plan is set out in sections which include: 

• Section B: Special educational needs.  
• Section F: The special educational provision needed by the child or the young person. 

16. There is a right of appeal to the Tribunal against a council’s actions including:

• description of a child or young person’s SEN and the special educational provision specified in Section F, the school or placement or that no school or other placement is specified in their EHC Plan.
• amendment to these elements of an EHC Plan.
• decision not to amend an EHC Plan following a review or reassessment.

What happened

17. This is a summary of the key events. It is not a complete chronology of everything that happened. Where necessary, I have expanded on some of these events in the “Analysis” section of this decision statement.
18. Mr X attends a college. He has an EHC Plan.
19. In January 2024 the Council issued Mr X’s amended final EHC Plan following a review.
20. In July and August a person on behalf of Mr X raised concerns with the Council about the college’s record keeping and course selection. The Council spoke to the college about the concerns.
21. In August Mr X wrote a letter of complaint to his college. He complained about matters including course enrolment and college staff being dismissive.
22. In November the Council reviewed Mr X’s EHC Plan. He was involved in the process. The Council decided not to make any changes to it. It informed him of his right to appeal this decision.
23. In December Mr X made a stage one formal complaint to the Council. He complained that since June 2023 he faced issues including:

• Chaotic environment in a specific class.
• Failure to implement provisions in his EHC Plan such as extra time or accommodation for a specific subject assessment.
• Lack of communication and dismissive behaviour from college staff.
• His college placed him on courses that did not align with his career aspirations.

24. The Council spoke to Mr X’s college and responded to Mr X at the beginning of January 2025. It said it had found no fault in the way it had secured his special educational provision. It also noted it had reviewed his EHC Plan in November and reminded him of his appeal rights.
25. Mr X promptly wrote to the Council and raised a stage two complaint. He complained the Council and his college had fallen short of their obligations under various laws and statutory regulations.
26. In February the Council responded to the stage two complaint. It said it was satisfied its stage one investigation thoroughly addressed each point of his complaint. The Council said it had not found there had been any breach of statutory regulations or a failure to deliver provisions in Mr X’s EHC Plan.
27. Mr X complained to us in February.

Findings

28. I will set out my conclusions on each part of Mr X’s complaint in turn:

a) The Council’s implementation of the provisions in Mr X’s EHC Plan and complaint handling.

29. Mr X’s complaint about the implementation of his EHC plan was regarding a lack of structure and support, refusal of enrolment on courses he wanted and a lack of communication. He referred to examples including a test in which he was not provided a separate room and extra time, and an instance when he attended a class and the college had not told him a tutor would not attend.
30. The Council has a duty to secure the specified special educational provision in Section F of the EHC Plan. We accept it is not practical for councils to keep a ‘watching brief’ on whether schools and colleges are providing all the special educational provision in section F for every pupil with an EHC Plan. We consider councils should be able to demonstrate appropriate oversight in gathering information to fulfil their legal duty. At a minimum we expect them to have systems in place to quickly investigate and act on complaints or concerns raised that the provision is not in place at any time. 
31. I have carefully considered the provisions laid out in Section F of Mr X’s EHC Plan. It is mainly a list of approaches, behaviours and strategies the college and its staff should adopt. I note it does not refer to an entitlement to enrol on any specific academic course or apprenticeship.
32. I have considered this against the information Mr X provided, and the Council’s investigation of his complaint by engaging with his college.
33. The Council’s engagement with Mr X’s college following the initial concerns and then his formal complaints, was prompt and addressed the concerns he raised. The Council explained to Mr X how it had investigated his complaints and the information his college had provided. It explained why it was satisfied the provisions in his EHC Plan were being implemented.
34. I note Section B of Mr X’s EHC Plan identifies arrangements that appear relevant to his complaint about the test, including a separate room and extra time. The Council does not have a specific duty to secure the contents of Section B, therefore I have not made a finding on this. It was open to Mr X to appeal to the Tribunal if he felt this sort of provision should have been included in Section F of the final EHC Plan.
35. The Council said it was committed to ongoing contact with Mr X and his college to support him. It provided a named contact at the Council if he felt any provision within Section F of his EHC Plan was not being implemented.
36. When Mr X escalated his complaint to stage two he complained he thought the Council had not complied with various laws. However, he did not say whether he thought any provision in Section F was not being implemented. The Council’s response showed it considered the complaint and reviewed its first investigation. It maintained it had not failed to secure any of the provisions in Mr X’s EHC Plan and was not at fault.
37. I find the Council’s investigations into Mr X’s concerns and complaints is evidence it exercised due diligence in line with our expectations. I find no evidence the Council failed to secure any of the special educational provision in Section F.
38. I do not find the Council at fault regarding part a) of Mr X’s complaint.

b) The college allowed a chaotic environment in a specific class, failed to provide accommodation for a subject assessment, and had poor communication about his classes.

39. This part of Mr X’s complaint relates to approaches, behaviours and strategies of the college and its staff. Section F of Mr X’s EHC Plan refers to these areas. I have therefore considered Section F, the Council’s investigation and its engagement with Mr X’s college regarding his complaints.
40. I note Mr X failed to say whether he thought any provision in Section F was not being implemented in his stage two complaint despite being invited to do so. I also note the Council explained why it was satisfied the provisions in his EHC Plan were being implemented.
41. The Council quickly investigated Mr X’s complaints and provided evidence of the college’s approach to implementing his EHC Plan. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. For this reason I have discontinued my investigation into part b) in line with paragraph 5 above.

c) and d) The college’s actions regarding courses, an apprenticeship, recording personal data, and complaint handling.

42. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in a college unless it relates to special educational needs. For example, when the college is acting on behalf of a council to secure the special educational provision as set out in Section F of an EHC Plan.
43. These elements of Mr X’s complaint do not relate to Section F of his EHC Plan and therefore I cannot investigate them. For this reason I have discontinued my investigation into parts c) and d) in line with paragraph 6 above.

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Decision

44. I find no fault in the way the Council secured Mr X’s special educational provision and handled his complaints. I have discontinued my investigation into the parts of his complaint about his college because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome and I cannot investigate the parts that are not about his special educational needs. I do not uphold Mr X’s complaint and have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman