Summary: We found fault with the Council delaying for 18 months outside the statutory timescales in reviewing and making the decision to cease Ms X’s child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We also found fault with the Council proposing to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan for Ms X’s child who was aged over 25 years when it completed the review. The Council’s fault caused uncertainty, distress, missed opportunity and Ms X to incur fees for professional opinion she did not need to obtain. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, reimburse Ms X for half the professional fees she incurred and pay her a symbolic payment for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to communicate with her about her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and keep suitable oversight of the plan for long periods of time until August 2024. Ms X also complained the Council acted outside the statutory timescales in reviewing her child’s plan.
2. Ms X complained the Council held an annual review for her child’s EHC Plan in 2024 despite her child being ineligible for a plan because of their age. Ms X said this led her to believe the Council would keep the EHC Plan and caused Ms X to incur expenses preparing for this until it decided to cease the plan in January 2025.
3. Ms X also complained the Council failed complete any transition process to ensure her child had suitable provision in place following the end of their placement in 2023.
4. Ms X says this matter has caused a loss of appropriate provision, emotional toll and distress and disruption to their child’s education, emotional well-being and transition to adult life. Ms X says the Council’s actions have delayed her child from accessing adult education or being assessed for learning support since at least January 2024.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. 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)
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)
7. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
8. 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)
9. 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)
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 have and have not investigated

11. I have investigated Ms X’s complaint from May 2023 up to the end of March 2025. While I have referenced some events before and after this timescale, this is just for context.
12. Ms X has been in contact with the Council since November 2023 about the issues outlined in her complaint. Ms X would not have known she needed to make a complaint until January 2025 meaning there is good reason to exercise our discretion to look back further than 12 months. I have chosen May 2023 as the start point of the investigation because this is the logical starting point before November 2023 given the Council’s actions and responsibilities.
13. I have ended my investigation at the end of March 2025. This is because Ms X had an appeal right to the SEND Tribunal about the Council’s decision to cease Y’s EHC Plan in January 2025, which she chose not to engage. And, the Council made its stage 2 decision at the end of March 2025 directing Ms X to the Ombudsman. Any matters after this date would be the subject of a new complaint with the Council.

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How I considered this complaint

14. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
15. Ms X and the Council had opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Rules and regulations

16. A child or young person, aged 0 to 25 years, with special educational needs may have an 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. 
17. The council must arrange for the EHC Plan to be reviewed at least once a year to make sure it is up to date. The council must complete the review within 12 months of the first EHC Plan and within 12 months of any later reviews. The annual review begins with consulting the child’s parents or the young person and the educational placement. A review meeting must then take place. The process is only complete when the council issues its decision to amend, maintain or cease to maintain the EHC Plan. This must happen within four weeks of the meeting. (Section 20(10) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN Code paragraph 9.176) 
18. For young people with an EHC Plan, preparation for transition to adulthood must begin from year nine (age 13 to 14). Transition planning must consider the young person’s needs as they move towards adulthood. It should plan to support their choices for further education, employment, career planning, financial support, accommodation, and personal budgets where appropriate. The SEND Code (8.78) outlines this planning should be completed with clear timescales and responsibility so a young person knows what will happen when the EHC Plan ceases.
19. In the case of a young person who turns 25 before their course has ended, the EHC Plan can be maintained until the end of the academic year in which they turn 25. A council should carefully plan a young person’s exit from an EHC Plan to support smooth transitions and effective preparation for adulthood. (SEND Code paragraph 9.207)
20. Where a local authority is considering ceasing to maintain a child or young person’s EHC Plan it must inform the child’s parents, consult the child’s parents and the consult the institution named in the EHC Plan. And, when the Council decides to cease the plan it must notify the child’s parents of this decision along with their appeal rights. (SEN Code paragraph 9.205 and 9.206) 
21. If a person disagrees with the Council’s decision to cease an EHC Plan they may appeal to the SEND Tribunal. A council must continue to maintain an EHC Plan until the time has passed for bringing an appeal, or until an appeal has been concluded if registered. (SEND Code paragraph 9.209)

What happened

22. In May 2022, the Council issued a notification to amend Ms X’s child’s, Y’s, EHC Plan. The Council issued an amended final EHC Plan in June 2022. Within the amended final EHC Plan the Council confirmed Y’s educational placement and detailed that all Section F provision should be provided through this placement. The Council outlined the purpose of the EHC plan was to prepare Y for the end of July 2023 when Y would be leaving this placement.
23. At the end of July 2023, Y’s placement ended.
24. In November 2023, the Council contacted Ms X and Y’s former educational placement to confirm if Y was still enrolled or in any form of education, training or employment. Ms X responded to advise Y’s placement ended in July 2023 and Y was no longer in any form of education, training or employment but wanted to continue with education.
25. The Council confirmed with Ms X it would start the process of ceasing Y’s EHC Plan in December 2023. The Council told Ms X that Y could return to education but the EHC Plan would no longer support funding. Ms X asked for confirmation when the Council ceased the EHC Plan which the Council said it would.
26. In March 2024, Ms X contacted the Council to advise the Council had not yet notified her of it ceasing Y’s EHC Plan. Ms X said she needed confirmation because her adult educational placement of choice for Y required a six-month gap between an EHC Plan ending and a person being eligible for support in the classroom.
27. The Council contacted Ms X in August 2024 to apologise for the delay in reviewing Y’s EHC Plan. The Council held an annual review meeting with Ms X in September 2024 and Y and said it would amend Y’s EHC Plan. The Council sent a proposed amended draft EHC Plan for Ms X’s consideration.
28. Ms X liaised with the Council about Y’s draft EHC Plan over the next few months. Ms X also paid for input from a private professional consultant in reviewing Y’s EHC Plan in October 2024.
29. In November 2024, the Council told Ms X it would be ceasing Y’s EHC Plan rather than finalising the draft EHC Plan. Ms X contacted the Council to query this in December 2024 and asked the Council to reconsider its decision.
30. The Council issued a formal notice to cease Y’s EHC Plan in January 2025.
31. Ms X liaised with the Council about its decision to cease the plan and made a formal complaint. Ms X said the Council told her it would extend the EHC Plan because of the lack of support by the Council.
32. In February 2025, the Council issued a stage one complaint response. The Council said:
• It discussed ending Y’s EHC Plan with Ms X in November and December 2023.
• It has experienced a significant turnover of staff which has impacted progression of Y's case and the overall communication with Ms X.
• The decision to hold an annual review and issue a draft EHC Plan in August 2024 was an attempt to rectify its delays. The Council said it should not have done this because of Y’s age.
• It cannot uphold Y’s EHC Plan because Y is aged over 25 but offered £200 for the stress caused through its delays.
• It had made service improvements through training and reviewing its process to address the issues outlined in Ms X’s complaint.
33. Ms X sought consideration of her complaint at stage two. Ms X said:
• The £200 offered by the Council does not cover the cost of the expert input she got for the EHC Plan review. Ms X said this also did not account for the mentoring, time invested and anxiety caused to Y.
• The Council had failed to explain how the administrative error occurred.
• Because of the Council’s delay, Y would not be able to start their adult education course until September 2025 because they needed to wait six months following the official cessation of the EHC Plan. Ms X asked the Council to backdate the cessation decision so Y could start adult education sooner without the six month delay.
34. The Council issued a stage two complaint response at the end of March 2025. The Council said:
• The administrative error was caused by the staff member conducting the annual review noting down Y’s date of birth incorrectly.
• It told Ms X it would be ceasing the EHC Plan in December 2023 and it would not support future funding and it was not responsible for extending the EHC Plan.

Analysis

35. Before the June 2022 EHC Plan, the Council issued a decision to amend Y’s EHC plan in May 2022. This meant it needed to complete an annual review meeting and confirm its intention to maintain, amend or cease Y’s EHC Plan by May 2023. Any time taken after this date to complete these actions would be delay outside the statutory timescales and would be fault.
36. The Council failed to hold an annual review and issue an amended draft EHC Plan until August 2024. The Council has accepted these actions were incorrect and it should, in fact, have ceased Y’s EHC Plan. As such, I do not consider the Council completed the annual review process until it issued its decision to cease in January 2025. While the Council took some steps in November 2023 and December 2023, by advising of its intention to cease Y’s EHC Plan, the Council did not formally cease the plan until January 2025. This delay of slightly over 18 months is fault.
37. This delay in deciding to cease Y’s EHC Plan after 31 July 2023 left Y in a contradictory position. Y was not entitled to receive their EHC Plan provision, because Y was aged over 25 and had left their educational placement, but Y still had an active EHC Plan which the Council had a duty to deliver. This would have caused uncertainty to both Y and Ms X. The Council’s delays have also prevented Y from accessing adult education at Ms X’s chosen educational placement because they needed confirmation Y’s EHC Plan had ceased six-months before they would provide support in the classroom. This meant Y experienced a lost opportunity for 18 months of accessing adult education. Once the Council confirmed cessation of the EHC Plan in January 2025, this six-month time period started and Y would have been able to access adult education in September 2025.
38. The Council’s inaction in 2023 and 2024 is also demonstrative of a failure of effective preparation and smooth transition to adulthood for Y. The result of this was an abrupt stop to all support provided for Y on 31 July 2023 with no support or measures in place by the Council. This would have caused distress to both Ms X and Y.
39. The Council compounded its fault from August 2024 to November 2024 by holding an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan and issuing a draft EHC Plan. This would have been a clear signal to Ms X the Council intended to produce an amended EHC Plan and continue support for Y. This was despite the Council knowing Y was aged over 25 years. This fault caused further uncertainty and disappointment, when the Council advised it needed to cease the plan, to Ms X and Y.
40. Ms X has also evidenced she sought expert opinion on the Council’s draft EHC Plan in October 2024. Seeking expert opinion on an EHC Plan is a matter of choice for a parent or young person and is normally something a person would be taking on the financial cost themselves. However, Ms X would not have sought this opinion had the Council not made the erroneous decision to produce a draft amended EHC plan for Y despite Y being ineligible for an EHC Plan. The Council’s actions have directly caused Ms X to incur a cost, albeit an optional cost.
41. The Council has already taken suitable Service Improvements to try to prevent a recurrence of the issues outlined in Ms X’s complaint and I do not consider further service improvements are necessary.

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Action

42. Within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision the Council will:
• Provide an apology to Ms X for the injustice caused by its delay in reviewing and ceasing Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for 18 months outside the statutory timescales and for holding an annual review and issuing a draft EHC Plan when Y was ineligible for a plan. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Provide a symbolic payment to Ms X of £1,000 for the uncertainty, distress, disappointment and lost opportunity caused to Ms X and Y through the Council’s fault.
• Provide a payment to Ms X of £225 for half of the fees she incurred through getting expert opinion for Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan review when the Council issued a draft EHC Plan despite Y being ineligible for an EHC Plan.
43. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

44. There was fault leading to injustice. As the Council has agreed to my recommendations, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman