Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her request it assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council has apologised and offered a payment for the injustice caused by the delay. There is nothing more we could achieve by investigating further.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about delay in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process. Mrs X says the Council has failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended)
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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 information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X asked the Council to assess her child for an EHC Plan on 31 October 2024. If the Council decided not to issue an EHC Plan, it should have sent Mrs X a decision by 20 February 2025 – week 16 of the process. If the Council decided to issue an EHC Plan, it should have done so by 20 March 2025 – week 20 of the process.
8. The Council has accepted it has taken longer than it should to complete the process due to a shortage of Educational Psychologists. This is service failure. This has caused Mrs X frustration and distress.
9. The Council has previously assured the Ombudsman of the actions it is taking to address delays in the EHC Plan process. We are therefore satisfied the Council has a plan to address this issue.
10. In cases like this we consider a payment of £100 to be a suitable remedy for each month of delay. The Council has already apologised to Mrs X and offered £100 for each month of delay. The Council’s actions are in line with our guidance and there is nothing more we could achieve by investigating the complaint further.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has already offered a suitable remedy for the identified injustice. An investigation would not achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman