Summary: Miss X complained the Council delayed the handover of her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan), delayed the subsequent annual review, failed to issue the amended EHC Plan and failed to make appropriate alternative provision. There is evidence of delays and lack of action causing distress, anxiety and isolation. A financial remedy for the missed education provision is agreed.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council delayed the handover of her child’s EHC Plan, delayed the subsequent annual review, failed to issue the amended EHC Plan and failed to make appropriate alternative provision.
2. Miss X says this has resulted in distress, affected her son’s learning and increased his anxiety and isolation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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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How I considered this complaint

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

EHC Plan 

8. 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. 

Transfer of EHC Plan between councils 

9. Where a child or young person moves to another council, the ‘old’ council must transfer the EHC Plan to the ‘new’ council. The new council must make sure the provision in the EHC Plan begins on the day of the move or within 15 working days of becoming aware of the move if this is later. The new council must review the EHC Plan either within 12 months of it last being reviewed or three months of the date of the transfer, whichever is the later date. (Section 15 Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014)  

Maintaining the EHC Plan

10. 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.

Key facts

11. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
12. Miss X and her family moved into Bromley Council area in July 2024. Her son, Z, has an EHC Plan and this was sent by the previous authority to Bromley Council in mid-July. The Council carried out checks to establish the family were living in its area and after completing this allocated the case for action to be taken.
13. On 30 August the Council called Miss X to discuss which school she preferred. On 5 September Miss X requested the Council consult school A. The Council sent the consultation to the school on 12 September and the day before offered alternative education provision in the form of 10 hours face to face tuition per week. Miss X declined the offer saying it was not suitable for Z’s needs.
14. On 27 September school A declined to offer Z a place. Information provided indicates the Council and Miss X made further contact with school A, providing further details and asking it to reconsider its decision.
15. Miss X says she was in discussions with the Council about alternative provision particularly online tuition. Miss X requested an annual review meeting. The Council met with Miss X on 11 October. It agreed to arrange an annual review meeting in early November. However, this was re-arranged due to a lack of reports and attendees declining the invitation to attend.
16. The Council made a referral to an online provider. A meeting was arranged between the provider and Miss X to discuss provision for Z in November but was cancelled by Miss X because she needed to attend an emergency vet appointment with the family dog. The online provider emailed the Council on 18 November saying Miss X had not rescheduled the meeting. The assessment meeting was held on 3 December.
17. The Council notified Miss X on 5 December that the online provider would provide maths and English tuition and provide a daily mentor for Z. The online provider was in contact with the Council saying it required a formal referral. The information provided by the Council says it “should” have made the referral on 20 December indicating no referral was actually made. However, Z’s declining mental health meant he was unable to engage with this provision during 2025.
18. The annual review was held on 5 December. The Council issued a notice to amend on 19 December and said the draft EHC Plan would be provided by 3 January. The final EHC Plan was eventually issued on 26 June 2025, four months later than the statutory timescale. The Council apologised for this fault and offered Miss X a payment of £250 to recognise her frustration.
19. The EHC Plan issued on 26 June named EOTAS (education other than at school) and the Council approved a budget which included maths and English tuition, attendance at a social skills group, physical education resources, other online provision and the purchase of a laptop and printer. This was approved on 5 December 2025. The Council says that online provision was available for Z for the summer term of 2025 though it is unclear if he was unable to engage.

Analysis

Handover of EHC plan

20. The family moved into the Council’s area on 12 July 2024 and so on that date it became responsible for maintaining Z’s EHC Plan and securing the provision in it. However, the case was not allocated to an officer until 28 August. In that time the Council carried out verification of the family’s new address against council tax records.
21. Once the case was allocated to an officer, contact was made with Miss X to discuss her preferences regarding education for Z. The SEN code of guidance says that a child should continue to attend the institution named in the EHC Plan after transfer unless it is impractical to do so. It is my understanding that Z stopped attending the provision named in his EHC Plan due to a breakdown in the relationship with Miss X. It seems to me therefore that this made it impractical for Z to continue to attend.
22. The Council did not take action in line with the specified timescales for providing education when a child with an EHC Plan transfers into its area. This is fault.

Annual review delay

23. The Council held an annual review meeting for Z’s EHC Plan on 5 December. When a child transfers to a new area, the new authority must tell the parent within six weeks when it will review the plan and then must review the plan whichever is the later of the following timescales:
• Within 12 months of the plan being made or being previously reviewed by the old authority, or
• Within three months of the plan being transferred.
24. The previous review took place more than 12 months before Z moved into the Council’s area and so I consider the annual review should have been held within three months of the transfer. This would be October 2024 but the review meeting was not held until 5 December. The failure to hold the review meeting within three months is fault.
25. The Council decided to amend Z’s EHC Plan and so it should have issued the final amended EHC Plan within 12 weeks of the review meeting. However, it did not issue the final EHC Plan until June 2025, a delay of four months. This is fault.

Failure to make appropriate alternative provision

26. Miss X says the Council failed to provide suitable education for Z after moving into its area. The information provided shows Miss X declined an offer of 10 hours of one-to-one provision on 11 September. Z’s EHC Plan detailed one-to-one provision on a daily basis for reading, maths and English and weekly one-to-one sessions for social skills and counselling. So while Miss X is entitled to decline the offer saying it was not suitable, I cannot conclude there was anything to indicate to the Council that such an offer would not be suitable. This offer may not have been perfect and may not have met all the SEN provision set out in the EHC Plan but it was not a wholly unreasonable offer.
27. The Council responded to Miss X’s requests for online provision and found a suitable provider. This was due to start in January 2025 but a deterioration in Z’s mental health meant he was unable to engage.
28. After issuing the EHC Plan in June 2025 which named EOTAS, the Council did not approve a personal budget until December 2025. So Z continued to be without an education and SEN provision for the remainder of 2025.
29. I consider that Z missed out on four terms of education. I am recommending below a financial remedy for this lost provision. However, my recommendation recognises there are differing circumstances related to each term and so the financial remedy proposed reflects this. It also recognises that for the spring term of 2025, Z was not able to engage with the provision and so no remedy is proposed.

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Action

30. To remedy the injustice caused as a result of the fault identified above the Council will, within one month of my final decision, take the following action:
• Apologise to Miss X for the fault 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;
• Make Miss X a payment of £900 to recognise the loss of education provision in the autumn term 2024. This reflects the fact an offer of one-to-one provision was made and that the delay in engaging the online provider was not wholly attributable to the Council;
• Make Miss X a payment of £4,800 to recognise the loss of education provision for the summer and autumn terms in 2025. The Council delayed finalising the EHC Plan which named EOTAS and then delayed finalising the personal budget. But for this delay, Miss X could have used the budget to purchase suitable education provision for Z sooner.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
32. I have decided not to make any service recommendations as the Ombudsman has issued several decisions finding fault in respect of the Council’s SEN provision and suitable service improvements have now been undertaken.

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Decision

33. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault for the reasons explained in this statement. The Council has agreed to implement the actions I have recommended. These appropriately remedy any injustice caused by fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman