Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council apologised and offered a suitable remedy and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about delay in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process. He also says the Council has not provided his son with the specialist school placement named in his EHC plan.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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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My assessment

5. Mr X asked the Council to assess his child for an EHC Plan on 6 June 2024. If the Council decided not to issue an EHC Plan, it should have done so by 24 October 2024 – week 20 of the process. The final EHC plan was issued on 2 June 2025.
6. The Council has accepted it took longer than it should to complete the process. It has explained that a shortage of Educational Psychologists and high number of requests for EHC plans contributed to the delay. The failure to issue a decision amounts to service failure. This has caused Mr X frustration and distress.
7. 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.
8. The Council has also offered Mr X a payment of £100 for each month of delay. This is in-line with our guidance and amounts to a suitable remedy for the impact of the delay on Mr X and his child. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve significantly more.
9. I appreciate Mr X is also unhappy the Council has failed to arrange a suitable school place for his child, but we cannot currently consider this issue. This is because Mr X has not yet raised this issue through the Council’s complaint procedure so it has not had a reasonable opportunity to provide a response.
10. If Mr X wishes to pursue the issue he should raise a new complaint with the Council about it now. In the event Mr X remains dissatisfied once the Council has provided a final response he may bring it back to us and we will consider whether to investigate it.
11. Mr X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with his complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council apologised and offered a suitable remedy. It is therefore unlikely further investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman