Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by the delay. If Mrs X wants to challenge the content of her child’s EHC Plan it is reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about delay in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process. Mrs X says the Council failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice. Mrs X is unhappy with the content of the EHC Plan produced by the Council.

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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 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)
4. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
7. 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

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

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My assessment

10. Mrs X asked the Council to assess her child for an EHC Plan on 19 September 2024. The Council decided to issue an EHC Plan and should have done so by 06 February 2025 – week 20 of the process. It eventually issued a final EHC Plan on 25 June 2025 – four and a half months late.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. In cases like this we consider a payment of £100 to be a suitable remedy for each month of delay. We therefore asked the Council to remedy the injustice caused by making a payment to Mrs X to resolve the complaint early. The Council has agreed to the following to remedy Mrs X’s complaint.
• Pay £450 for the four and a half months of delay in issuing the final EHC Plan.
14. The Council should make the payment within four weeks of this decision.
15. Mrs X is also unhappy with the school named in the EHC Plan and how the Council decided this. The way the Council decided the school named in the EHC Plan and the school named are too closely linked to be separated. Parents unhappy with the content of an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. We expect parents to use that right unless it is unreasonable for them to do so. The Tribunal can give Mrs X the outcome she wants by deciding the EHC Plan should be changed. That is not a decision we can take. It is therefore reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal, and we will not consider this point.
16. The Council has agreed a suitable remedy and is taking to steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. We will not therefore investigate.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has offered a suitable remedy for the identified injustice. It is reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal if she wants to challenge the content of her child’s EHC Plan.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman