Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to support her daughter Y and failed to deliver provision in Y’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She says this distressed her and Y and caused Y to miss provision. The Council was at fault in delaying implementing some parts of Y’s EHC Plan. This distressed and frustrated Mrs X and Y and Y missed provision. The Council has agreed to make a financial payment.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to support her daughter, Y and failed to deliver the provision in Y’s EHC Plan. She says this caused distress for her family and Y missed provision.

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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. 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)
4. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
5. 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)
6. 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

7. I have not investigated matters relating to Y’s EHC Plan prior to August 2024 or the complaint about Y’s supervision in school. These are late complaints and there is not enough reason to accept those parts of it for investigation now. I reference events prior to August 2024 for context in this matter.
8. I have not investigated Mrs X’s complaint about Y’s personal budget, leisure membership and child in need assessment. The Council is investigating these matters under the children’s statutory complaints procedure.

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How I considered this complaint

9. I read Mrs X’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
10. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Mrs X and the Council both 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

Background information

12. 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.
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)  
14. We accept it is not practical for councils to keep a ‘watching brief’ on whether schools and others are providing all the special educational provision in section F for every pupil with an EHC Plan. We consider councils should be able to demonstrate appropriate oversight in gathering information to fulfil their legal duty. At a minimum we expect them to have systems in place to: 

• check the special educational provision is in place when a new or amended EHC Plan is issued or there is a change in educational placement; 
• check the provision at least annually during the EHC review process; and 
• quickly investigate and act on complaints or concerns raised that the provision is not in place at any time. 

15. There is a right of appeal to the Tribunal against a council’s:

• description of a child or young person’s SEN, the special educational provision specified, the school or placement or that no school or other placement is specified in their EHC Plan;
• amendment to these elements of an EHC Plan; and
• decision not to amend an EHC Plan following a review or reassessment.

What happened

16. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that occurred in this case.
17. Mrs X’s daughter, Y, has an EHC Plan. The Council reviewed Y’s EHC Plan and issued an amended plan in March 2023.
18. In April 2023 Mrs X lodged an appeal to the tribunal against Y’s EHC Plan.
19. In August 2023 the Council agreed to provide education other than at college (EOTAC) for Y.
20. In September 2023 the Council began speech and language therapy (SALT) for Y.
21. In January 2024 the Council began specialist outreach support for Y.
22. In February 2024 the Tribunal heard Mrs X’s appeal. It issued its decision in March 2024.
23. In April 2024 Mrs X appealed against the Tribunal’s decision.
24. In June 2024 the Tribunal upheld Mrs X’s appeal and decided a new Tribunal should decide the original appeal again.
25. The new Tribunal hearing took place in July 2024. The Tribunal order said Mrs X and the Council had agreed amendments to Y’s EHC Plan. It also said the Plan should require an identified and designated person to administer the EOTAC package.
26. Following the Tribunal, the Council issued Y’s amended final EHC Plan in August 2024. The plan required the Council to make provision for Y including:
• EOTAC (including having a designated and identified person to administer the EOTAC package)
• Specialist outreach
• Wellbeing support
• Speech and language therapy (SALT)
• Sensory integration sessions
• Specialist staff training
27. In September 2024 the Council allocated a new education and health case officer to work with Y.
28. In November 2024 Mrs X complained to the Council. As part of her complaint, Mrs X said the Council had failed to deliver provision in Y’s EHC Plan and meet the Tribunal Order.
29. Later in November 2024 the Council carried out an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan.
30. In December 2024 the Council referred Y to a wellbeing support service which started supporting Y. It also began sensory integration sessions for Y. The Council then told Mrs X it was amending Y’s EHC Plan following the annual review.
31. In February 2025 the Council sent Mrs X a draft amended EHC Plan following the annual review. It then responded to her complaint. It upheld parts of Mrs X’s complaint, apologised and offered her £1,625 for distress, uncertainty, missed and/or delayed provision.
32. Mrs X was not satisfied with the response. She asked the Council to escalate her complaint later in February 2025.
33. In April 2025 Mrs X made a new complaint to the Council. She said there were still issues with EHC Plan provision.
34. Later in April 2025 the Council appointed a new EOTAC co-ordinator to act as the designated and identified person administering EOTAC packages. The Council then issued Y’s final amended EHC Plan following the annual review.
35. The Council issued its stage 2 complaint response in May 2025. The stage 2 response also addressed issues Mrs X raised in her complaint in April 2025. As part of its response the Council said it had not appointed an EOTAC co-ordinator at the time of the Tribunal order. It said Y’s case officer had fulfilled some of the tasks of this role. The Council upheld parts of Mrs X’s complaint and reiterated its offer of £1,625.
36. In May 2025 the Council carried out two specialist staff training sessions. It also carried out an annual review of Y’s EHC Plan.
37. In July 2025 the Council told Mrs X it had completed its response to her complaint. It also noted Mrs X had made a separate complaint it would investigate under the children’s statutory complaint procedure.
38. Mrs X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. Mrs X would like the Council to recognise its failures in delivering Y’s EHC Plan, take action to avoid it happening again and provide financial compensation.
39. In response to my enquiries the Council stated Y’s care worker had acted as the designated EOTAC co-ordinator before it recruited to a full time post. It also said there had been delays in some of Y’s EHC Plan provision around wellbeing support and specialist staff training.

My findings

Provision in EHC Plan

40. Paragraph 13 says 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. Paragraph 26 summarises the special educational provision in Y’s final EHC Plan issued following the Tribunal Order in August 2024.
41. The Council started SALT in September 2023 and specialist outreach support in January 2024. Both were already in place when it issued Y’s final EHC Plan in August 2024.
42. The Council already had EOTAC in place for Y in August 2024. The final EHC Plan required the Council to have a designated and identified person to administer the EOTAC package from this date. The Council appointed a EOTAC co-ordinator in April 2025. This eight-month delay is fault.
43. The August 2024 EHC Plan confirmed Y should receive wellbeing support. The Council started the wellbeing support in December 2024. This four-month delay is fault.
44. The August 2024 EHC Plan confirmed Y should receive sensory integration sessions. The Council started the sensory integration sessions in December 2024. This four-month delay is fault.
45. The August 2024 EHC Plan confirmed staff working with Y should receive specialist training. The Council carried out specialist staff training sessions in May 2025. This nine-month delay is fault.
46. The Council’s delay in implementing parts of Y’s EHC Plan distressed and frustrated Mrs X and her family and Y missed provision.
47. The Council accepted, in response to Mrs X’s complaint, it delayed implementing some parts of Y’s EHC Plan. The Council apologised and offered to pay a remedy of £1,625. This is in line with our guidance on remedies and is a suitable remedy to acknowledge the injustice the Council fault caused.
48. I have not made any service improvement recommendations. There is nothing in this complaint to suggest the fault arose due to wider systemic failure in the Council.

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Action

49. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mrs X and Y by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:
• Pay Mrs X the £1,625 it offered to recognise the injustice the delays in Y’s EHC Plan provision caused to Mrs X and Y.
50. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

51. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council which caused injustice to Mrs X and Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman