Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide her daughter with an education and the provision set out in her Education, Health and Care Plan when she was unable to attend school between June 2023 and September 2024. Ms X said the Council’s actions caused significant distress to her daughter and left her without the support she needed for a year. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to provide an improved financial remedy in recognition of the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to provide her daughter with an education and the provision set out in her Education, Health and Care Plan when she was unable to attend school between June 2023 and September 2024. Ms X said the Council’s actions caused significant avoidable distress to her daughter and left her without the provision and support she needed for a year. She would like the Council to acknowledge it left her daughter without an education and support for this period and for it to improve the financial remedy it has already provided.
2. Ms X also complained about the actions of the Council and her daughter’s school regarding safety concerns raised in 2023, and that the Council did not update the content of the Education, Health and Care Plan following annual reviews dating back to 2020.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. 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. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
6. 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

7. I have exercised discretion to investigate the complaint referred to in paragraph one for the period June 2023 to September 2024. This is because the Council considered this period as part of its complaint investigation.
8. I have not investigated the complaints referred to in paragraph two because:
• We cannot investigate the actions of the school regarding Ms X’s complaint,
• There are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate safety concerns raised in 2023 as this complaint is late,
• There are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate Ms X’s complaint regarding a failure to update the Education, Health and Care Plan dating back to 2020 as this complaint is late.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an initial draft of this decision. I considered any comments before issuing an amended draft decision. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on the amended draft decision. I considered any further comments before making a final decision.
11. 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 found

Education, Health and Care Plans

12. A child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This 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. 
13. 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)  

Alternative provision

14. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that councils 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 makes 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

15. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
16. Ms X’s daughter, Y, has a diagnosis of autism, dyslexia and features of comorbid attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The Council issued an EHC Plan setting out the provision and support to be provided to Y.
17. In June 2023, Y was involved in an incident at her school, School A. Ms X says Y was not permitted to return to School A following the incident.
18. Y started at a new education setting in September 2024.

Ms X’s complaint

19. On 7 February 2025, Ms X complained to the Council. She said the Council had failed to secure a suitable education for Y and had not provided any of the provision set out in her EHC Plan for the period June 2023 to September 2024. Ms X said the missed provision included therapeutic support and support from an occupational therapist and speech and language therapist. Ms X also complained that neither School A nor the Council had acted on safety concerns raised prior to the incident in 2023. She also complained the Council had not updated Y’s EHC Plan since 2020. Ms X said Y had experienced trauma as a result of the Council’s actions and had missed out on at least three terms of education. She asked the Council to provide a financial remedy in lieu of the missed education.
20. On 2 April 2025, Ms X asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two of the complaints process.
21. The Council acknowledged this request and agreed to consider Ms X’s complaint at stage two.
22. The Council provided its stage two complaint response on 9 June 2025. It said it was unable to consider Ms X’s complaints about safety concerns raised in 2023 and a failure to update the EHC Plan dating back to 2020 because these matters fell outside the Council’s 12-month timeframe set out in its complaint policy. However, the Council acknowledged it had not provided Y with a formal education or the provision outlined in her EHC Plan for the period June 2023 to September 2024. The Council apologised for this and for the delay in its complaint handling. It offered Ms X a financial remedy in recognition of the three terms of missed education and SEN provision, and in recognition of the time and trouble taken in pursuing the complaint.
23. Ms X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response and brought the complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis – failure to provide provision

24. Councils are responsible for ensuring a child or young person receives the SEN provision set out in their EHC Plan. They must also arrange suitable alternative educational provision when a child is unable to attend school because of permanent exclusion, illness, or for any other reason which makes the school inaccessible to the child.
25. In this case, the Council has acknowledged it did not provide Y with suitable alternative educational provision or the provision specified in her EHC Plan for the period June 2023 to September 2024. It is positive the Council acknowledged this as part of its own complaint investigation. It is also positive the Council provided a financial remedy in recognition of the injustice this fault caused to Y. Nevertheless, the Council’s failure to provide an education and the SEN provision for the period in question is fault.

The Council’s complaint handling

26. The Council says it escalated Ms X’s complaint to stage two of its complaint procedure without first issuing a stage one response. The Council says this was at the request of Ms X and because this was a proportionate, case-specific decision aimed at avoiding unnecessary delay. I acknowledge the reasons given by the Council.
27. However, the Council’s complaint policy specified that the Council would respond to complaints within 20 working days. The evidence indicates the Council did not respond to Ms X’s stage one complaint within 20 working days. I acknowledge the Council’s decision to escalate the complaint to stage two but find the failure to provide a stage one response within 20 working days is fault. The injustice to Ms X is the time and trouble incurred in pursuing her complaint.

Service improvements

28. When we decide an organisation needs to learn from any fault identified, to prevent likely injustice to others in the future from similar fault, we can recommend actions it needs to take. We call this a service improvement.
29. I acknowledge the Council already has an improvement plan in place to improve its SEN service. As a result, I have not made service improvement recommendations in this case because we are continuing to monitor the Council’s implementation of its improvement plan.
30. The Council says it completed a service review of its complaints function and launched a new structure in January 2026. The Council says that from April 2026, it adopted a revised complaint process to adhere to the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code. It says as part of the recent service review, it is working to achieve improved consistency across its team. I acknowledge the Council’s explanation and the actions it has taken to improve its complaint handling service. As a result, I have not made service improvement recommendations regarding the Council’s complaint handling in this case.

Consideration of the Council's financial remedy

31. The financial remedy already provided by the Council in recognition of the time and trouble to Ms X in relation to the Council’s complaint handling is appropriate.
32. Regarding the period of missed provision, I have reviewed the financial remedy already provided by the Council and the specific SEN provision as set out in Y’s EHC Plan. This included:
• Recommendations and advice from an occupational therapist and speech and language therapist
• Participation in social skills groups to gain an understanding of appropriate behaviour in different social settings
• Engage in sessions about keeping safe in the community, appropriate friendships and danger awareness
• Support with self-regulation and managing feelings
33. Ms X says Y needed the provision specified by her EHC Plan more than ever during the period she was absent from school, because of the nature of the incident which occurred in June 2023. Ms X says Y received no support during this time, even though her needs and vulnerabilities were well documented in the EHC Plan. I acknowledge Ms X’s comments and acknowledge the lack of provision, particularly the provision listed above, caused a significant injustice to Y.
34. I acknowledge the financial remedy already provided in respect of the missed provision. However, I find this does not fully address the injustice to Y, given the specific SEN provision that was missed, alongside the circumstances at the time.
35. I have considered our published Guidance on Remedies and the circumstances of this complaint and consider the injustice to Y justifies an improved financial remedy. This is because the missed provision specified in the EHC Plan was particularly relevant to providing support to Y at a time when she needed it to help manage her feelings, regulate her emotions and deal with appropriate friendships following the incident that occurred at school. In addition, the Council acknowledges that no education or provision was provided to Y for the period in question. Recommending additional provision now is unlikely to adequately remedy this loss given the time elapsed since the period of absence and given that Y’s education setting has now changed.

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Action

36. To address the injustice identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an additional symbolic payment of £3,300 for the benefit of Y, in recognition of the missed education and special educational needs provision for the period June 2023 to September 2024. This equates to £2,000 per term for three terms, (totalling £6,000), and takes into account the financial remedy of £2,700 already paid.
37. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Decision

38. I have found fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take the above action to remedy the injustice, and I have therefore concluded my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman