Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about how the Council managed a personal budget for her child. This is because we are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to pay her child, Y’s personal budget as outlined within their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Ms X stated this has caused stress and worry and risks Y’s mental health and wellbeing if not able to attend their provision. She would like the Council to pay Y’s personal budget to the direct payment account and explain why there have been delays in communication and complaint handling.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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 s34H(1), as amended)
4. 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms X complained the Council failed to pay the personal budget for Y, as set out in their EHC Plan.
8. In its complaint response, the Council apologised to Ms X for the delay in paying the personal budget for Y, and for the delay in resolving her complaint. It offered Ms X a payment of £300 in reflection of the time and trouble she had spent trying to resolve her complaint. We are satisfied with the Council’s proposed actions in relation to this part of complaint. It apologised to Ms X for the delay and uncertainty caused by the failure to pay the personal budget, the delay in complaint handling and offered a suitable financial remedy in the form of a symbolic payment to remedy injustice.
9. The Council also said that Y’s provision was now being funded by Social Care and it would pay the outstanding invoices to the provider agreed in section J of her EHC Plan.
10. If we were to investigate this part of the complaint, it is likely that we would find fault with the Council. That is because the outstanding invoice to the provider that it agreed to pay in September 2025 has not yet been paid.

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Agreed Action

11. The Council agreed to resolve Ms X’s complaint by taking the following action within two weeks of our final decision:
1. Apologise to Ms X for the avoidable uncertainty caused by the delay in processing the outstanding invoice to the provider agreed in section J of Y’s EHC Plan.
2. Ensure that the outstanding provider invoice has been paid.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are satisfied with the actions the Council has taken.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman