Summary: We have found fault with the Council for failing to make a timely Section 19 decision. This caused Miss X’s son, Y to be without suitable alternative provision for a school half term. We have also found fault with the Council for failing to monitor and review Y’s alternative provision. This caused Miss X avoidable distress as she experienced uncertainty and potentially the missed opportunity of Y accessing a different alternative provision supplier. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment to remedy Miss X’s injustice.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council has not found a school place for her son, Y. She says he has missed out on education, SEN provision and social interaction.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated events that took place before July 2024. This is because these happened more than 12 months before Miss X brought her complaint to us. We consider this to be a late complaint and I see no good reason why Miss X could not complain sooner.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

EHC Plan

8. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the Tribunal or the council can do this.

Maintaining the EHC Plan

9. The council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F of an EHC Plan (Section 42 Children and Families Act). The Courts have said the duty to arrange this provision is owed personally to the child and is non-delegable. This means if the council asks another organisation to make the provision and that organisation fails to do so, the council remains liable (R v London Borough of Harrow ex parte M [1997] ELR 62), (R v North Tyneside Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 135)

Reviewing EHC Plans

10. The council must arrange for the EHC Plan to be reviewed at least once a year to make sure it is up to date. The council must complete the review within 12 months of the first EHC Plan and within 12 months of any later reviews. The annual review begins with consulting the child’s parents or the young person and the educational placement. A review meeting must then take place. Following the review meeting the council must issue a decision to either amend, maintain or cease to maintain the EHC Plan. This must happen within four weeks of the meeting. (Section 20(10) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN Code paragraph 9.176)

Section 19 duty

11. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that the council must arrange suitable alternative educational provision when it finds that a child is unable to attend school because of a permanent exclusion, an illness, or for any other reason which make the school inaccessible to the child. The alternative educational provision must be suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs they have.

What happened

12. Miss X’s son, Y has SEN. Y has not attended school since 2022. The Council issued an EHC Plan in February 2024. This named a mainstream school until September 2024 and a type of school (special) from September 2024. My investigation starts in July 2024, 12 months before Miss X brought her complaint to us.
13. Despite extensive consultation with over 20 schools, the Council was unable to find a special school placement for Y to start in September 2024.
14. The Council made a referral for alternative provision in October and secured 15 hours per week of AP from November 2024. Y struggled to engage with the AP and rarely received a full week’s provision. Miss X complained that the Council had still not found a special school placement for Y.
15. In July 2025, Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Update

16. The Council held an annual review for Y in September 2025. In February 2026, a multi-agency panel agreed to reassess Y. This was to gain an up to date understanding of his needs so that more bespoke educational options could be considered. At the time of this decision, Y remains without a school placement and is not engaging with AP.

My findings

17. The Council failed to make a timely Section 19 decision and Y was without provision between September and November 2024 (a school half term). The Council has agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment of £450 in recognition of the half term of missed provision.
18. Once the Council secured 15 hours of AP from November 2024, Y did not engage. I have seen no evidence that the Council reviewed this provision despite being aware that Y was struggling to access the number of commissioned hours.
19. I have found fault with the Council for failing to monitor and review the AP being delivered. I cannot say with any certainty that if the Council had reviewed the AP, Y would have engaged better with a new provider. Therefore, I cannot say that Y’s injustice because of the Council’s fault was missed provision. However, I do consider that the Council’s failure to monitor and review the AP available for Y caused uncertainty and potentially the missed opportunity to access different AP.
20. The Council has agreed to make a distress payment of £500 in line with our guidance on remedies in recognition of the uncertainty and missed opportunity.
21. The Council has made service improvements as a result of this complaint and a related Ofsted report. Therefore, I have not recommended any further service improvements.

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Agreed action

22. Within 4 weeks of my decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Miss X for failing to make a timely Section 19 decision and consider alternative provision for Y, and for failing to monitor and review the provision available.
2. Pay Miss X £450 in recognition of the half term of missed provision that Y experienced between September and November 2024.
3. Pay Miss X £500 in recognition of the avoidable distress caused by the failure to monitor and review the alternative provision available to Y.
23. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

24. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman