Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council failed to complete her child’s Education, Health and Care needs assessment within the statutory timescales. We find the Council at fault for delay causing uncertainty and distress for the family. We recommend the Council apologises and makes a payment to Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council has failed to complete her child, Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment within the statutory timescales, and that the assessment is still outstanding. Mrs X said that, since September 2024, she has been funding alternative provision for Y because they are unable to attend school without an EHC Plan. She says this has caused stress and anxiety for the family.
2. Mrs X wants the Council to complete the EHC needs assessment, compensation for the delay, and to be reimbursed for the cost of the alternative provision.

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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(1), as amended)
5. 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.
6. 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

7. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. 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

EHC Plans 

9. 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. 

Timescales and process for EHC assessment 

10. Statutory guidance ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (‘the Code’) sets out the process for carrying out EHC assessments and producing EHC Plans. The guidance is based on the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEN Regulations 2014. It says the following: 

• Where the council receives a request for an EHC needs assessment it must decide whether to agree to the assessment and send its decision to the parent of the child or the young person within six weeks. 
• The process of assessing needs and developing EHC Plans “must be carried out in a timely manner”. Steps must be completed as soon as practicable. 
• If the council goes on to carry out an assessment, it must decide whether to issue an EHC Plan or refuse to issue a Plan within 16 weeks.
• If the council goes on to issue an EHC Plan, the whole process from the point when an assessment is requested until the final EHC Plan is issued must take no more than 20 weeks (unless certain specific circumstances apply).

Elective Home Education (EHE)

11. Parents have a right to educate their children at home (Section 7, Education Act 1996). This can include the use of tutors or parental support groups. Elective home education is distinct from education provided by a council otherwise than at school, for example when a child is too ill to attend. In choosing to educate a child at home, the parents take on financial responsibility for any costs involved, including examination costs.

What happened

12. In June 2024, Mrs X asked the Council to carry out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child, Y.
13. In July, the Council decided not to carry out an assessment. Mrs X appealed to the Tribunal.
14. In September, Mrs X began elective home educating Y because she felt Y’s needs were not being met at school.
15. In November, the Tribunal overturned the Council’s decision and directed it to carry out an EHC needs assessment.
16. In February 2025, Mrs X complained to the Council because the EHC needs assessment for Y had not been completed and the statutory deadline was approaching.
17. In March, the Council apologised for the delay and said that Y was on the waiting list for an educational psychologist (EP) assessment, which was required for a draft EHC Plan to be completed.
18. Mrs X was dissatisfied with the response and escalated her complaint.
19. In April, the Council issued its final response. It accepted there had been a delay in completing the EHC needs assessment and issuing the final EHC Plan, explaining this was due to the national shortage of Educational Psychologists (EPs). It told Mrs X it was actively recruiting staff to meet additional demand and was processing assessments as quickly as possible.
20. Mrs X then brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

My findings

21. The Council accepts it did not complete Y’s EHC needs assessment within the statutory timescales.
22. Following the Tribunal’s decision in November 2024, the Council was required to decide whether an EHC Plan is needed. If it decides one is not necessary it needed to notify Mrs X of its decision within 10 weeks, meaning it should have advised Mrs X by February. Or if it decides one is necessary, it needed to issue Y’s EHC Plan within 14 weeks, meaning that it should have been completed by February 2025. However, the Council is yet to decide whether an EHC Plan is needed. This delay is fault.
23. The Council has explained it has been unable to gather the information required to make the decision due to the national shortage of EPs, but this does not remove its duty to comply with the statutory timescales.
24. Mrs X says that the delay means she has been funding Y’s education for which she is seeking reimbursement. However, as Y is electively home educated, Mrs X is responsible for their education and any costs incurred. She made the decision to do this before the events resulting in delay happened.
25. While the delay has not caused avoidable financial loss for Mrs X, it has caused distress and uncertainty.

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Action

26. To remedy the injustice caused by the above faults, within four weeks of the date of our final decision, the council has agreed to:
• Apologise to Mrs X in line with our guidance on Making an effective apology; and
• Pay Mrs X £700 to recognise the uncertainty, avoidable distress and frustration caused by the delay. It should continue to pay Mrs X an ongoing payment of £100 a month until it makes a decision or for a maximum of six months (whichever is sooner) and if required issue a Plan.
27. I have not recommended any action for the Council to take to improve its services. This is because in July 2025, the Council assured the Ombudsman of the actions it is taking to address delays within its SEND team. We are waiting to see the result of this.  
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

29. 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