Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Miss Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because the Council has offered a suitable remedy for its delay and any dispute over the contents of the final Plan is a matter for the appeals process.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of her daughter, Miss Y.
2. Mrs X complains the Council delayed issuing Miss Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She also complains the final EHCP contains several errors which the Council refuses to correct.
3. Mrs X says the Council’s delays and errors have caused significant distress and prevented Miss Y from receiving support she needs.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating,
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation,
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants,

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council or care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
7. 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)
8. There is a right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal against a council’s description of a child or young person’s Special Educational Needs (SEN), the special educational provision specified, the school or placement or that no school or other placement is specified in their EHC Plan.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
10. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

11. Mrs X applied for an EHC needs assessment for Miss Y in April 2023. She complains about delays by the Council between April 2023 and October 2024 which she says were the result of poor communication, failing to respond to mediation requests, and not informing her of her review rights.
12. Mrs X brought her complaint to us in June 2025. Any complaint about delay by the Council in the mediation process between April and November 2023 is therefore late and I have seen no good reasons to exercise our discretion to investigate it.
13. It is in any event unlikely we would find fault by the Council in relation to this delay as the mediation provider has accepted there were technical problems which meant they did not contact the Council about Mrs X’s mediation request for several months.
14. The Council reconsidered its decision not to assess Miss Y after Mrs X lodged an appeal with the SEND Tribunal. It agreed to carry out an assessment but then decided not to issue Miss Y an EHC Plan. The Council accepts it delayed in making this decision and initially failed to advise Mrs X of her right to appeal. It has apologised to Mrs X and offered Miss Y £100 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused. It has also apologised for poor communication during the process. I consider these actions to be a suitable remedy for the injustice caused and investigation by us is unlikely to achieve a substantially different outcome. The evidence I have seen shows the Council made subsequent decisions within statutory timeframes and we cannot consider any delay which results from the decisions themselves or from the use of Mrs X’s right of appeal against them.

Errors in final EHCP

15. Mrs X also complains about errors and inaccuracies in Miss Y’s final EHCP, which she says affects her access to appropriate SEN support. She wants the Council to amend the plan and correct the errors.
16. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the content of Miss Y’s EHCP. This is because the issue carries a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal that it is reasonable for Mrs X to use. Only the SEND Tribunal can direct the Council to make the changes to the EHC Plan that Mrs X or Miss Y may wish to seek.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has offered a suitable remedy and further investigation is unlikely lead to a different outcome. If Mrs X believes the content of the EHC Plan is incorrect it would be reasonable for her to use her right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman