Essex County Council (25 005 329)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed carrying out an Education Health and Care needs assessment for a child. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by offering to make a suitable payment to the complainant to remedy the injustice this caused.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains that the Council has delayed completing an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child.
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)
- Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we were to investigate this complaint, it is likely that we would find fault. This is because the Council has delayed completing an EHC needs assessment by around a year. It says this is due to the national shortage of Educational Psychologists.
- We have recently upheld other complaints about delays with the Council completing EHC needs assessments due to the national shortage of Educational Psychologists. We are satisfied that the Council is taking steps to resolve this issue and have therefore not recommended anything further in regard to this point.
- However, the delays have caused Mrs X distress in the form of frustration and uncertainty.
- I therefore asked the Council to apologise to Mrs X and to make a payment to her of £1200 within one month to remedy the distress caused by the delay. To its credit, the Council agreed.
Final decision
- We have upheld Miss X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing a suitable remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman