London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (25 005 023)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about how the Council secured provision for her child. The Council upheld Ms X’s main complaint and took steps to remedy her injustice. There are no wider public interest remaining that would justify an investigation.
The complaint
- Ms X was unhappy saying the Council failed to make reasonable adjustments to ensure her child Y, was properly receiving the provision she was owed in an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan.
- Ms X said this has caused her distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Y is a child with an EHC Plan. Ms X complained about the way the Council had secured provision. She said it did not use a slanted board to aid the session, the session was poorly managed, and the teaching staff held an inappropriate discussion in front of Y, which was inappropriate.
- The Council upheld Ms X’s complaints relating to the use of boards and agreed the discussion staff held in front of Y, should not have happened in the way it did. It apologised for this and offered Ms X a symbolic financial remedy of £150. It explained the staff providing the session were qualified to provide teaching for that part of Y’s provision.
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is unlikely we would reach a different conclusion for Ms X’s complaint than the Council’s; it has apologised and made a suitable offer of a financial remedy.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has taken appropriate action to prevent reoccurrence of this fault and offered £150 as remedy for injustice. There are no wider public interest issues to justify our investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman