Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to comply with the statutory timeframe for completing an annual review and considering a personal budget request. We find the Council at fault for failing to complete two annual reviews. This caused Mrs X distress and frustration and had a financial impact on the family. We have recommended the Council apologise, reimburse therapy costs and make a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that, despite repeated complaints and communication, the Council failed to comply with the statutory timeframe for completing an annual review and considering a personal budget request. Mrs X also complained the Council failed to secure speech and language provision detailed in her son, Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Mrs X told us the family has been left with the financial burden of funding speech and language therapy, and the Council’s poor communication has caused her stress and anxiety. Mrs X would like the Council to apologise, issue an updated Education, Health and Care Plan, reimburse the cost of speech and language therapy and review its communication process.

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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 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)
3. 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)
4. 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

5. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. 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

Legal and administrative background

Education, Health and Care Plans

7. 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. 

Personal Budgets

8. A Personal Budget is the amount of money the council has identified it needs to pay to secure the provision in a child or young person’s EHC Plan. One way that councils can deliver a Personal Budget is through direct payments. These are cash payments made to the child’s parent or the young person so they can commission the provision in the EHC Plan themselves.
9. A child’s parent or the young person has the right to request a Personal Budget when the council has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed it will prepare an EHC Plan. They may also request a Personal Budget during a statutory review of an existing EHC Plan.
10. The final allocation of a Personal Budget must be sufficient to secure the agreed provision specified in the EHC Plan and must be set out as part of that provision.
11. If the council refuses a request for a direct payment, it must set out the reasons in writing and inform the child’s parent or the young person of their right to request a formal review of the decision.

Maintaining the EHC Plan

12. The council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F of an EHC Plan (Section 42 Children and Families Act). The Courts have said the duty to arrange this provision is owed personally to the child and is non-delegable. This means if the council asks another organisation to make the provision and that organisation fails to do so, the council remains liable (R v London Borough of Harrow ex parte M [1997] ELR 62), (R v North Tyneside Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 135)  

Reviewing EHC Plans

13. 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. Following the review meeting the council must issue a decision to either 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) 
14. If the council decides not to amend an EHC Plan or decides to cease to maintain it, it must inform the child’s parents or the young person of their right to appeal the decision to the tribunal.
15. Where the council proposes to amend an EHC Plan, the law says it must send the child’s parent or the young person a copy of the existing (non-amended) Plan and an accompanying notice providing details of the proposed amendments, including copies of any evidence to support the proposed changes. (Section 22(2) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN Code paragraph 9.194). Case law sets out this should happen within four weeks of the date of the review meeting. Case law also found councils must issue the final amended EHC Plan within a further eight weeks.

Council complaints procedure

16. The Council has a published complaints procedure which sets out a two stage process.
17. At stage one, the Council aims to provide a response within 15 working days of receiving a complaint. In line with its policy, if the Council requires longer than 15 working days to provide a response, it should let the complainant know.
18. At stage two, the Council aims to provide a response within 25 days of receiving the relevant complaint information.

What happened

19. The Council issued a final EHC Plan for Y in July 2024. This Plan named a special school placement for Y to attend.
20. In August 2024, Mrs X commissioned a private speech and language assessment for Y. This assessment recommended Y required weekly, direct 1:1 speech and language sessions.
21. An early annual review meeting was held in September 2024. Mrs X submitted the speech and language assessment report as part of the review and requested a personal budget to fund the recommended direct therapy sessions.
22. In line with statutory timeframes, the Council should have issued the amended final Plan no later than the second week of December 2024.
23. Mrs X contacted the Council in February 2025 to request an update on the annual review. The Council has not provided any evidence it responded to Mrs X’s contact.
24. Mrs X submitted a complaint to the Council in March 2025 as she had not received a response to her previous correspondence, and the Council had still not issued a decision following the annual review.
25. The Council provided a response to Mrs X’s complaint in May 2025, 10 weeks after the complaint was submitted. In its response, the Council apologised for the delay in issuing the amended draft Plan and said an amended draft Plan would be issued within four weeks.
26. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage two in June 2025.
27. The Council issued an amended draft Plan in July 2025, 10 weeks after the stage one complaint response. The amended draft Plan included the 1:1 speech and language therapy sessions recommended in the August 2024 speech and language report.
28. The Council also responded to Mrs X’s personal budget request in July 2025. The Council wrote to Mrs X to explain the panel members had considered Mrs X’s request but advised support should be sought via the NHS rather than a personal budget.
29. The Council issued a stage two complaint response in September 2025, 75 days after receiving Mrs X’s escalation. The Council apologised again for the delays in completing the September 2024 annual review and advised a draft Plan had been issued in July.
30. The Council did not issue an amended final Plan.
31. The Council completed a further annual review in October 2025. In accordance with statutory timeframes the Council should have issued a final amended Plan no later than the last week in December 2025.
32. The Council issued a proposed amended Plan in April 2026. As of May 2026, the Council has not issued an amended final Plan.

My findings

33. The Council failed to issue an amended final Plan following the annual review in September 2024. This is fault which meant Y did not receive funding for the speech and language therapy recommended in the August 2024 assessment report, despite the Council agreeing this should be included in the Plan. The delay also caused distress, frustration and uncertainty for Y and Mrs X and significantly impacted Mrs X’s right to appeal.
34. There was an approximate 10 month delay in the Council considering and providing a response to Mrs X’s personal budget request. This delay is fault which caused uncertainty and frustration for Mrs X.
35. As of May 2026, the Council has failed to issue an amended final Plan following the annual review in October 2025. This is a delay of approximately 5 months. The delay is fault which causes distress, frustration and uncertainty for Y and Mrs X and frustrates Mrs X’s appeal rights.
36. The Council failed to respond to Mrs X’s initial correspondence about the annual review delays. The Council also failed to comply with the timeframes set out for responding Mrs X’s stage one and two complaints. The Council’s poor correspondence and complaint handling is fault which caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty.
37. In response to our enquiries the Council has acknowledged the fault in its failure to issue the final amended Plan following the September 2024 annual review. The Council has offered to:
• Reimburse Mrs X the cost of speech and language sessions.
• Make a symbolic payment of £500 in recognition of the injustice caused by the frustrated right to appeal.
• Make a symbolic payment of £300 in recognition of the avoidable uncertainty, frustration, time and trouble encountered by Mrs X.
38. The Council has an ongoing action plan in place to improve its service delivery in relation to annual reviews. The Council continues to implement and update this action plan. For this reason, I have not made any further service improvement recommendations.

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Action

39. Within one month of the final decision the Council will:
• Apologise to Mrs X for the injustice caused by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• On receipt of invoices, reimburse Mrs X the cost of any speech and language therapy incurred between December 2024 and May 2026, which equates to the weekly 1:1 direct therapy sessions recommended in the August 2024 speech and language assessment report.
• Consider the level of speech and language provision secured by Mrs X and determine how much weekly 1:1 provision remains outstanding for the time between December 2024 and May 2026. Where there is outstanding weekly 1:1 provision, the council should secure this provision and ensure there is a plan in place for it to be delivered.
• Make a symbolic payment of £800 in recognition of the injustice caused by the failure to issue an amended final Education, Health and Care Plan following the annual reviews in September 2024 and October 2025.
• If it has not already done so, the Council should complete the October 2025 annual review process without further delay and issue Mrs X her appeal rights.
• Make a symbolic payment of £200 in recognition of the distress and uncertainty caused by the Council’s failure to follow its complaints policy and its poor communication with Mrs X throughout the annual review process.
40. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

41. 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