Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the lack of education provision for her child. This is because part of the complaint is late and the Council offered a suitable remedy for injustice caused to Y. We would not achieve more for Mrs X if we investigated the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council failed to make education provision for her daughter, Y, and failed to ensure the school delivered the provision in Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan during the 2023/24 school year. Ms X said that as a result Y’s mental health is poor.

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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 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. 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 Mrs X and the Council
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X’s daughter Y attended a school. Mrs X said that in October 2023 she became aware that the school could not meet Y’s needs and it had not delivered the provision set out in section F of her Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Mrs X said Y did not attend school from October 2023 and she was removed from the school roll in February 2024.
8. We will not investigate events before May 2024. This is because it was open to Mrs X to make a complaint to us sooner. Mrs X made her complaint to the Council in December 2024 and to the Ombudsman in May 2025. We are mindful of Mrs X’s circumstances, but she has previously made complaints to us. So, there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider events before May 2024.
9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in providing alternative education provision for Y. In its responses to Mrs X’s complaints, the Council acknowledged delay in providing alternative education provision for the period March to June 2024. It offered a payment of £1800 to Mrs X to acknowledge the missed education provision for Y. Our guidance on remedies recommends payments of between £900 to £2400 per term to acknowledge the impact of the loss of education. The Council’s offered remedy of £1800 is in accordance with our Guidance on remedies. It is also proportionate to acknowledge the loss of education for one and a half terms. In reaching this view, we have also taken into account that the Council provided some education to Y from May 2024. So, the remedy provided by the Council is sufficient and an investigation will not achieve any more for Mrs X and Y.
10. Mrs X said that the Council did not provide sufficient alternative education provision for Y as it was not full time. The Council provided 13 hours per week of tuition for Y from June 2024 which is not full time education. But the Council provided tuition for Y which would increase the intensity of Y’s learning so fewer hours are likely to be appropriate. So, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation into this aspect of Mrs X’s complaint.
11. The Council acknowledged that it did not provide the occupational therapy provision set out in Y’s EHC Plan. The Council offered a symbolic payment of £850 to acknowledge the impact on Y of missing this provision. This payment is proportionate and at the upper end of what we would generally recommend in the circumstances. So, we could not achieve any more for Mrs X and Y by investigating the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman