Summary: We have discontinued our investigation of this complaint. This is because it concerns matters which are either too late, or premature, for investigation.

The complaint

1. I will refer to the complainant as Miss G.
2. Miss G complains the Council:

• delayed completing the education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment process for her daughter, F;
• did not arrange alternative educational provision for F when she was not attending school;
• delayed requesting a sensory assessment for F after agreeing to do so;
• did not ensure F’s EHC plan was implemented;
• did not provide free school meals for F; and
• failed to complete an annual review of F’s EHC plan.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss G and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. I also shared a draft copy of this decision with each party for their comments.

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What I found

8. In 2024 Miss G submitted a stage 1 complaint to the Council. She complained the Council had missed the deadline for completing F’s EHC needs assessment and issuing her plan, had not arranged alternative provision for her, and had not sought a sensory assessment for her despite agreeing to do so.
9. The Council responded in September. It said its deadline for issuing the EHC plan had been July 2023, but acknowledged it had not issued the draft plan until November. It noted it had not received Miss G’s comments until September 2024, and agreed it should have proceeded to issue a final plan instead of allowing the matter to drift. The Council also acknowledged it should have arranged alternative provision for F in July 2023, and that it had not requested the sensory assessment after agreeing to do so in March, though it confirmed it had now done so and incorporated its results into F’s, now issued, EHC plan.
10. After Miss G escalated her complaint to stage 2, the Council issued a final response, reiterating its previous findings, in November.
11. Miss G then referred her complaint to the Ombudsman in July 2025.

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Analysis

12. The law says a person should approach us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue they wish to complain about. This is called the ‘permitted period’. Any complaint made to us outside the permitted period is late.
13. We have discretion to disapply this restriction and investigate late complaints, but first we must be satisfied there was a good reason for the complainant’s delay in approaching us. However, in this case, I note we completed an investigation of a previous complaint from Miss G in June 2024, and also that the Council issued its final response to this complaint in November 2024. I therefore consider it was reasonable to expect Miss G to approach us sooner than July 2025, if she wished us to investigate events in 2023 and early 2024, and so I will not exercise discretion in this case.
14. In her complaint to Ombudsman, Miss G also raised several new issues, which were a failure to implement the EHC plan now it was issued, a failure to provide free school meals, and a failure to complete an annual review of the EHC plan. As these points did not form part of her complaint to the Council, the law does not permit us to investigate them.
15. As we are unable to consider any part of Miss G’s complaint, I have discontinued my investigation.

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Decision

16. I have discontinued my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman