Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delay in reviewing her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council have offered a suitable remedy, and it would be reasonable for Mrs X to appeal to the tribunal about the contents of the plan. Parts of Mrs X’s complaint are also late.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to provide her with the outcome of review meetings in a reasonable timeframe and failed to meaningfully amend her child, Y’s EHC Plan before their transition to a post-16 institution.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), 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 SEND 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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs X’s child, Y, has an EHC Plan. Y was due to transition to a new post-16 institution in September 2025.
9. We normally expect people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. We will not consider the parts of Mrs X’s complaint from before August 2024. It would have been responsible for Mrs X to complain to us sooner about any matters predating August 2024.
10. In November 2024 the Council held a review meeting for Y’s EHC Plan. The Council did not provide Mrs X with the outcome of this meeting, and the Council did not issue the final EHC Plan until March 2025.
11. While there was a delay in issuing Y’s final EHC Plan following the review, the review was completed before the regulatory deadline for Y’s transition to collage.
12. The Council upheld Mrs X’s complaint about not providing Mrs X with the outcome of the review meeting and delay in amending Y’s EHC Plan following the review. The Council has apologised to Mrs X and offered a symbolic remedy of £550. This is a suitable remedy in line with our guidance.
13. Mrs X also complains the content of Y’s EHC Plan is not sufficient. The SEND Tribunal considers appeals against the content of EHC Plans. It would be reasonable for Mrs X to appeal to the tribunal if she feels the education provision in the EHC Plan is not sufficient to meet Y’s needs.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The Council has offered a suitable remedy, and it would be reasonable for Mrs X to appeal to the tribunal about the contents of the plan. Parts of Mrs X’s complaint are also late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman