Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed carrying out an Education Health and Care needs assessment for a child. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by offering to make a suitable payment to the complainant to remedy the injustice this caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the Council delayed completing an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child. Mrs X says the Council has since issued a final EHC Plan but failed to name a school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability – SEND) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the 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 were to investigate this complaint it is likely that we would find fault. This is because the Council delayed completing its EHC needs assessment by around six months. It has apologised to Mrs X and says the delay was due to the national shortage of Educational Psychologists.
9. We have recently upheld other complaints about delays with the Council completing EHC needs assessments due to the national shortage of Educational Psychologists and we are satisfied that the Council is taking steps to resolve this issue and so have therefore not recommended anything further in regard to this point. 
10. However, the delays have caused Mrs X distress in the form of frustration and uncertainty. I therefore asked the Council to make a payment to her of £600 within one month to remedy the distress this has caused. To its credit, the Council agreed.
11. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council has failed to name a school in its final EHC Plan. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs X to have appealed the contents of the final EHC Plan, including the failure to name a school, to the SEND Tribunal.

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Final decision

12. We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing a suitable remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman