Summary: Mrs X complained the Council removed her son’s, Y’s, short-term targets from the Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan after these were agreed at the 2023 annual review. I have ended this investigation as there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council removed her son’s, Y’s, short-term targets from the EHC Plan after these were agreed at the 2023 annual review. Mrs X said as a result Y had no targets to work towards which has caused distress, frustration and uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation; or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
  (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
4. Mrs 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

Relevant law and guidance

5. 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. 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. 
6. Section E of an EHC Plan includes the outcomes sought for the child or the young person. The SEND Code of Practice says the EHC Plan should also specify the arrangements for setting shorter term targets to meet the outcomes set out in section E. Professionals working with children and young people during the EHC Plan development process may agree shorter term targets that are not part of the EHC Plan.
7. These can be reviewed and, if necessary, amended regularly to ensure that the individual remains on track to achieve the outcomes specified in their EHC plan. Professionals should, wherever possible, append these shorter term plans and targets to the EHC plan so that regular progress monitoring is always considered in the light of the longer term outcomes and aspirations that the child or young person wants to achieve.

What happened

8. Mrs X has a child, Y, who has special educational needs and an EHC Plan in place. In November 2023, the Council arranged Y’s annual review. During the annual review meeting, Mrs X and the relevant professionals involved in Y’s EHC Plan agreed on a series of short-term targets for Y to work towards to help him meet the outcomes outlined in section E of his Plan.
9. When the Council sent Mrs X the amended EHC Plan following the annual review meeting, it had removed all of the short-term targets. Therefore, the targets no longer exist. In July 2024, Mrs X raised a stage one complaint saying there were no short-term targets in the Plan or appended to the Plan. Mrs X also advised the school had not reviewed the short-term targets for the full academic year.
10. In October 2024, the Council arranged another annual review. The record of this meeting shows that the Council agreed to seven short-term targets for Y to work towards. The Council sent a copy of this to Mrs X. However, it did not append the targets to the Plan.
11. The Council told Mrs X the school should invite her to review the short-term outcomes at least three times per academic year, and that this should be a part of the core offer at every school. The Council said it would write to the school to remind it of this.
12. In the Council’s final complaint response it accepted it had removed the short-term targets following the November 2023 annual review. It advised it has not included short-term targets in EHC Plans since 2022. This is because they are relevant to the education setting to help achieve the long term outcomes and will constantly change depending on when those short-term targets are achieved.
13. Mrs X told us in the latest annual review she made suggestions for Section E to include a range of outcomes including short-term and the Council accepted most of her suggestions.

My findings

14. The Council accepted it had removed the short-term targets following the November 2023 annual review and they no longer exist. However since then, there have been an annual review where the Council has recorded short-term targets adequately. After the 2024 annual review, the Council did not append the targets to the EHC Plan as the Code of Practice suggests should happen. However, the Council has recorded these in the annual review form which has been shared with Mrs X so Y and the school are aware of his targets. Mrs X also said she has suggested a range of outcomes including short-term outcomes for section E of Y’s EHC Plan most of which the Council has accepted. It is unlikely further investigation by us would reach a different outcome.
15. I decided to end my investigation as there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. Mrs X’s complaint relates to the existence of short-term targets from 2023. Since then, the Council has ensured there are adequate records of Y’s short-term targets.

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Decision

16. I ended this investigation as there is as there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman