Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about delay in the annual review of her child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because the Council has already offered a remedy for this part of her complaint. Nor will we investigate her complaint the final plan is out of date, because Miss X had a right of appeal about this and it would be reasonable to expect her to have used this.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s delay in completing an annual review of her child’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She said when she did receive the plan, its contents were out of date. Miss X also complained there was a lack of communication from the Council. She said the delay and poor communication impacted her child’s education and caused her distress and frustration.

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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 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.
4. 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)
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. 

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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.

My assessment

8. Miss X complained about the delay in completing the annual review of her child’s EHC Plan. The Council began an annual review in April 2024. It then did not issue a final EHC Plan until February 2025, which was a delay of 7 months. The Council has acknowledged and apologised for the delay in issuing the plan.
9. Miss X complained the content of the final amended EHC Plan was out of date. We will not investigate this because there is a right of appeal to the Tribunal about this and it would have been reasonable to expect Miss X to have used her appeal right, particularly because parliament set it up for this purpose.
10. Miss X complained about the lack of communication from the Council. The Council has acknowledged its communication did not meet expected standards. It has apologised and said it made service improvements.
11. The Council has offered Miss X a symbolic financial remedy of £500 to acknowledge the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay in the annual review process. This is an appropriate remedy for Miss X’s injustice.

Final Decision

12. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has taken appropriate action to prevent reoccurrence of this fault in delaying finalising an EHC Plan and offered £500 as remedy for her injustice. Miss X also had a right of appeal about the contents of the EHC Plan and it would be reasonable to expect her to use it. Additionally, there are no wider public interest issues to justify our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman