Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s failure with annual reviews for his grandchild’s Education, Health and Care Plan and not updating it with specialist provision they needed. We found the Council at fault. This has caused significant injustice to Mr X’s grandchild as they missed out on specialist provision they were entitled to. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s failure in completing the annual review process for his grandchild’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, leading to an out-of-date plan. Mr X says it has not been updated since 2021, despite providing diagnosis evidence previously. Mr X says this has meant his grandchild has not received specialist support for their diagnosis which has negatively impacted on their educational progress and learning opportunities.

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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. 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)
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. 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

6. Mr X complains about the Council’s actions since an annual review in 2023. I have decided this is too far back for us to investigate and is late (see Paragraph 3). Mr X did not receive an outcome or updated EHC Plan after this review, and I consider Mr X could have complained about this period sooner.
7. I have considered events from May 2024 (12 months prior his complaint to us) to May 2025 (when Mr X received the Council’s final complaint response). I have considered injustice from May 2024 up to August 2025 (when the Council issued a final EHC Plan). This point onwards is outside the scope of my investigation, as Mr X had appeal rights. This is explained further later.
8. I refer to events before, and after this, as relevant background context for the rest of the complaint. There is also an element of continuing fault which feeds into the specific period I am considering.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I discussed the complaint with Mr X and considered his views and information he provided.
10. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its written responses and information it provided, as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and administrative background

Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans

12. 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. This includes Section B: special educational needs, and Section F: special educational provision needed by the child. 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. 

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. 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) 

Background

14. Since 2021, Mr X’s grandchild (Y) has had an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Y attended the “School”.
15. In 2023, the School sent the Council its paperwork from the annual review it held for Y. Y now had a confirmed diagnosis of a specific learning difficulty. In carer views, Mr X said he wanted this added to the EHC Plan, with additional provision of tailored support for this as recommended in the diagnosis report. The School proposed to maintain the current EHC Plan with some amendments.
16. The Council did not act on this annual review, and it did not make or issue a formal decision about Y’s EHC Plan to Mr X.

What happened – summary of key relevant events

17. In mid-2024, the School held an annual review. It recommended to maintain Y’s EHC Plan with amendments, including adding Y’s diagnosis in.
18. In April 2025, Mr X formally complained to the Council. Mr X said Y’s EHC Plan had not been reviewed or updated since 2021, despite attending each review and providing evidence of Y’s needs. This meant Y missed out on support they were legally entitled to for their specific learning difficulty, detrimentally impacting them. He asked for a prompt review of Y’s EHC Plan to discuss their needs.
19. In May 2025, the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint. It acknowledged Mr X had requested changes to Y’s EHC Plan at previous meetings. It said it did not receive the annual review documents from the School in 2023 or 2024. It accepted it did not have sufficient oversight of Y’s EHC Plan. It apologised and upheld the complaint. To follow up Mr X’s concern about Y’s need for specialist support, it would arrange a review and it could add this into the EHC Plan.
20. The next week, Mr X escalated his complaint. He pointed out the Council’s poor record keeping. He said he had a copy of the email sent by the School to the Council from the 2023 review with the evidence of Y’s diagnosis.
21. In mid-May 2025, Mr X complained to us.
22. At the end of May 2025, the Council responded to Mr X’s escalation request. It confirmed it could not locate the paperwork on its systems. It was its responsibility to chase up annual reviews, and it apologised again for the impact to Y. It scheduled the 2025 review for the next month.

Events after Mr X’s complaint to us

23. Since Mr X’s complaint to us, the Council held the annual review for 2025. Mr X said going forward, he wanted intensive specialist tutoring for Y to help them catch up and mitigate the impact of previously missed provision.
24. In August 2025, the Council issued an amended final EHC Plan for Y. It outlined Mr X’s appeal rights if he disagreed with the contents.
25. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it made amendments to Y’s Section F provision. It included support directly taken from recommendations in the 2023 diagnosis report.

Analysis

26. The investigation is limited to considering the role of the Council. We cannot consider the actions of the School as they are not in our remit to investigate.
27. The Council accepted it was at fault with the 2023 annual review and I note this fault continued with the 2024 annual review. The Council failed to make timely formal decisions or review Y’s EHC Plan in line with statutory processes and its responsibilities. The Council recognised it did not appropriately monitor or maintain oversight of the annual review process. I welcome the Council acknowledging its shortcomings. I also can see it acted promptly as an outcome to Mr X’s complaint to arrange and complete the 2025 annual review within statutory timeframes.
28. I now consider the injustice. I have also kept in my mind the Council’s additions to Y’s EHC Plan in August 2025, and what it based this on. On balance, had it not been for the Council’s fault, it is likely this provision would have been in place much sooner. This has caused significant injustice to Y as they missed out on support they were entitled to. For the period I am considering (see Paragraph 7), this is for around four school terms. The Council’s fault also meant Mr X did not have appeal rights during this time as it did not make a formal decision.
29. I recognise Mr X wanted the Council to put in place intensive tuition to make up for Y’s missed support going forward. The Council did not include this in the final 2025 EHC Plan. However, we cannot make decisions about what provision should be made or included. This is a decision the SEND Tribunal can make, and an appeal is the correct way to challenge this.

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Agreed Action

30. To remedy the injustice set out above, the Council has agreed to carry out the following actions within one month of the final decision:
• Apologise to Mr X and Y in writing for the injustice caused by the faults identified (in line with our guidance on making an effective apology); and
• Pay Mr X a symbolic payment of £4,400 to recognise the loss of special educational provision that should have been in place for Y between May 2024 and August 2025. This could be used for Y’s educational benefit.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
32. In previous decisions around similar fault, the Council has taken actions around its management of annual reviews, and we’ve made other service improvement recommendations in this area. These need time to embed so it is not necessary to make further ones.

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Decision

33. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations to remedy the injustice caused. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman