Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council failed to provide the reimbursement of special educational needs expenses incurred despite agreeing to do so and failure to provide a personal budget. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. In addition, further investigation would not lead to any worthwhile outcomes.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to provide the reimbursement of special educational needs (SEN) expenses incurred despite agreeing to do so. She also complains the Council failed to provide a personal budget for the next academic year.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In August 2024, the Council issued a complaint response to Miss X where it agreed to reimburse therapy costs that Miss X had been paying for since May 2024. Miss X said the Council has not paid this.
6. In response to our enquiries, the Council confirmed it agreed to pay costs of just over £1480 to reimburse Miss X for occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy provision she paid for. Miss X told the Council to pay the money into an account managed by her child’s financial deputy. The Council provided us with evidence this was paid in October 2024. Therefore, an investigation is not justified as we are not likely to find fault.
7. Miss X also complained the Council failed to consider her request for a personal budget for the financial year 2024/25. In response to our enquiries, the Council confirmed it had not been able to give full consideration to Miss X’s request as she had not engaged with the personal budget agreement process.
8. The Council said it had repeatedly asked Miss X to provide information on the specific provisions she was seeking to be funded by a personal budget, as well as costings from the provider and the outcomes it linked with. This was to ensure the personal budget requested was directly linked to the provisions outlined in the education, health, and care plan (EHC). The Council explained Miss X had not provided this information and had declined to complete the required forms.
9. The Council added it had tried to arrange payment directly with the supplies as it was conscious of its absolute duty to secure the provisions in the EHC plan. However, the Council said several suppliers failed to engage with its requests for information that would have enabled it directly providing the funding for the support.
10. The Council confirmed it had agreed, as an exception, to reimburse Miss X for the costs incurred for the academic year 2024/25 in providing the SEN support. The Council has asked Miss X to provide the Council with invoices to confirm the payment due to providers.
11. An investigation is not proportionate as we are not likely to find fault with the Council. The Council has evidenced its attempts to engage with Miss X to obtain the information it needed to properly consider the personal budget request. The Council is allowed to ask for necessary information to enable it to make a decision.
12. Further, an investigation is also not proportionate as the Council has since agreed to reimburse Miss X as an exception. Therefore, further investigation by us would not achieve anything more. It is open to Miss X to provide the Council with the required invoices to allow it to make payment to the suppliers.
13. Finally, the Council confirmed an annual review was held in July 2025 and that further requests for a personal budget would be considered as part of this process. It is open to Miss X to engage with the Council and to provide it with the required information to enable the Council to consider any request in full.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault. In addition, further investigation would not lead to any worthwhile outcomes.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman