Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to review Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan within statutory time limits and failed to put alternative provision in place for him while he was out of school. The Council was at fault for delay in completing the review and putting alternative provision in place, causing uncertainty and meaning Y missed out on education he was entitled to. The Council has agreed to apologise and make payment to reflect the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to complete a review of her son, Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan within statutory time limits. Ms X also complains the Council failed to arrange suitable alternative provision for Y while he was out of school between May 2024 and July 2025.

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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 consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have investigated Ms X’s complaint, as set out above, between May 2024 and July 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

EHC Plan reviews

9. A child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) may have an EHC Plan. This document sets out the young person’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. 
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. The process is only complete when the council issues its decision to amend, maintain or discontinue 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) 

Alternative provision

11. Councils must arrange suitable education at school or elsewhere for pupils who are out of school because of exclusion, illness or for other reasons, if they would not receive suitable education without such arrangements. [The provision generally should be full-time unless it is not in the child’s interests.] (Education Act 1996, section 19). We refer to this as section 19 or alternative education provision.
12. This applies to all children of compulsory school age living in the local council area, whether or not they are on the roll of a school. (Statutory guidance ‘Alternative Provision’ January 2013)
13. We have issued guidance on how we expect councils to fulfil their responsibilities to provide education for children who, for whatever reason, do not attend school full-time. Out of school, out of sight? published July 2022
14. Where councils arrange for schools or other bodies to carry out their functions on their behalf, the council remains responsible. Therefore, councils should retain oversight and control to ensure their duties are properly fulfilled.

What happened

15. I have summarised below some key events leading to Ms X’s complaint. While I have considered everything said and submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
16. Y has SEN and his education is supported by an EHC Plan. Y was enrolled at School A but stopped attending in May 2024.
17. A review of Y’s EHC Plan was held at School A on 18 July 2024. During this meeting, Ms X said it was no longer suitable for Y to be educated at school, and that he needed a package of Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS). The Council referred Y’s case to its SEND panel to consider the request for an EOTAS package.
18. By 15 August 2024, the Council missed the four-week deadline to complete the annual review.
19. Ms X complained to the Council saying it had breached the statutory time limits for completing the review of Y’s EHC Plan. Ms X also complained the Council had not made any alternative provision available to Y while he was out of school.
20. In April 2025, the Council considered Y’s ability to attend and access education at school, what provision was set out in his EHC Plan, what provision was available to him at School A and what the barriers were to accessing that provision. The Council also considered Y’s ability to engage with education and what could realistically be delivered for him. The Council referred Y to a tuition service in order to provide him with alternative provision.
21. The Council issued a final EHC Plan for Y on 22 April 2025, around eight months after the deadline to do so.
22. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in July 2025. The Council apologised for the length of time it had taken to respond. The Council acknowledged it had not completed the review of Y’s EHC Plan within statutory time limits and apologised for this. The Council offered to pay Ms X £500 in recognition of the delay in responding to her complaint and the delay in completing the review of Y’s EHC Plan.
23. From July 2025 Y’s alternative provision increased to three hours and 15 minutes per week based on his ability to tolerate and access education.
24. In response to our enquiries, the Council explained the reason for the delay in completing Y’s EHC Plan review and commissioning alternative provision was due to service changes it was undertaking at the time. These include a new staffing structure, new IT systems and revised processes. The Council has explained these changes are intended to improve service delivery but created operational delays during the transition.

Analysis

25. The review meeting for Y’s EHC Plan took place on 18 July 2024. Had the Council completed this in line with statutory time limits, Y’s final EHC Plan would have been issued by 15 August 2024. However, the Council did not finalise Y’s plan until 22 April 2025, around eight months after the deadline to do so. As a result, Ms X was caused significant frustration and uncertainty as well as frustrating her right to appeal to the Tribunal. This is injustice.
26. The Council has already offered to pay Ms X £500 in recognition of the delay in completing the review of Y’s EHC Plan and I find this to be a suitable recognition of the injustice caused here.
27. From the point Y’s EHC Plan was reviewed in July 2024, the Council was aware he was no longer attending School A and was under a duty to consider whether it needed to arrange alternative education for him. This process is separable from the process of reviewing Y’s EHC Plan. I have seen no evidence the Council considered what level of education would have been suitable for Y, arrange for any alternative provision, or review whether his ability to access education had increased until April 2025. This amounts to fault. As a result, Y missed out on educational provision he was entitled to between July 2024 and April 2025, approximately two school terms, which is injustice.
28. From April 2025 until the end point of my investigation, the Council commissioned alternative provision for Y through a tuition service. It is not my role to say what alternative provision would have been appropriate for Y across that time, but the Council has confirmed it considered his ability to access education, what was already available to him and the barriers to accessing this before making its decision. I do not find fault with the Council’s decision-making process. I understand Ms X is unhappy with the level of alternative provision available to Y from April 2025 until the end of my investigation, but where the Council followed the right process to decide on the alternative provision, I cannot find it at fault.
29. The Council has explained the reason for the delay was a period of transition while it made service changes. As the service changes should improve the service, I do not make any further service improvement recommendations.

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Action

30. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council should complete the following actions within one month of the date of this decision:
• Write to Ms X to apologise for the delay in completing Ys EHC Plan review and for the delay in securing alternative provision for him. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Ms X the £500 previously offered to recognise the injustice caused by the delay in completing Y’s EHC Plan review and in responding to her complaint if this has not already been paid.
• Make a symbolic payment of £1,800 to Ms X in recognition of the delay in putting alternative provision in place for Y across two school terms.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman