Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not provide her child with a suitable education between September and December 2024. She says this impacted their education and emotional wellbeing. We find the Council at fault which caused injustice. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council did not provide her child with suitable education between September and December 2024.
2. Mrs X says this impacted her child’s education and wellbeing.

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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. 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 Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. 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)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. As I have said above, we cannot investigate matters which could have been considered by a tribunal. Mrs X received her right to appeal in mid-October 2024. She appealed to the Tribunal about the provision and school place named in B’s EHC Plan. For this reason, I cannot investigate the matters of provision after mid-October 2024 as these matters can be considered by the Tribunal.

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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 a draft of this decision. I considered all comments received before making this final decision.
10. 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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What I found

What should have happened

11. 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 education (Section F), or the name of the educational placement (Section I). Only the Tribunal or the council can do this. 
12. 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.

What happened

13. B had an EHC Plan. The Plan said that B should receive a Speech and Language Therapy intervention every week led by a trained staff member at school or parent. It said the staff member or parent should receive three sessions of training per year.
14. In September 2024, B did not have a school place. The Council knew B did not have a school place and did not arrange any alternative provision for B.
15. In mid-October, the Council issued an amended final EHC Plan for B. Mrs X appealed to the Tribunal regarding Section F and Section I of the Plan.

Analysis

16. The Council upheld Mrs X’s complaint and accepts it did not provide B with any education until after October 2024. It apologised to Mrs X for the delays in providing B with alternative provision. The Council not providing B with alternative provision was fault. This fault caused B to miss out on education and caused Mrs X unnecessary and avoidable distress.
17. The Council has previously remedied B’s loss of education until mid-September 2024. To its credit, the Council has agreed to offer a further financial remedy for the entire autumn/winter term which includes the period of lost education we are investigating from mid-September until mid-October. I am satisfied this also remedies any injustice caused by the loss of some Speech and Language Therapy intervention during this time.

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Action

18. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council will make the offered payment of £900 to Mrs X. I consider this is in line with our published guidance on remedies and remedies the period we have investigated and a period afterwards.
19. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

20. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman