Summary: We upheld part of Miss X’s complaint about delays in the Education, Health and Care process because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused. We did not investigate part of the complaint because it was late. We did not investigate the remainder because the tests in our assessment code were not met.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council:
1. failed to comply with the statutory timescales when conducting an Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment of her child, Y, in 2023 and 2024; and
2. delayed making a final EHC Plan for Y following a tribunal order in January 2025.
2. Miss X said the matter caused her distress and frustration. She said the delays meant she had to pay for Y to attend a private school during the EHC process.

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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 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).
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. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
7. 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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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Background

10. Miss X asked the Council to conduct an EHC needs assessment of Y in January 2023. The council refused to conduct an assessment in late March 2023.
11. Miss X appealed to the Tribunal. The Council conceded before the Tribunal and in July 2023 agreed to conduct an EHC needs assessment of Y.
12. In September 2023, Miss X enrolled Y in a private school setting. Miss X said this was due to Y’s needs being unmet their mainstream school.
13. In July 2024 the Council decided not to make an EHC Plan for Y. Miss X appealed the decision to the Tribunal.
14. In January 2025, the Tribunal ordered the Council to make an EHC Plan for Y.
15. The Council made a final EHC Plan for Y in July 2025.
16. In her complaint to the Council and the Ombudsman, Miss X explained she wanted the Council to pay for the cost of Y’s private education during this period.

Matters before September 2024

17. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in September 2025. I have seen no good reasons Miss X could not have complained sooner about the issues that took place more than 12 months before this date. Miss X was aware of the issues at the time, and it was reasonable for her to complain sooner.
18. Consequently, we will not investigate matters that took place before September 2024.

Education provided to Y during the EHC process

19. We will not investigate this matter. Miss X said Y was unable to attend their school and so she chose to place them in an independent setting from September 2023.
20. It was Miss X’s choice to enrol Y in an independent setting. We could not say the delay in the EHC process directly led to Y requiring this type of education. The Council did not accept a section 19 duty towards Y.
21. Consequently, we will not investigate this complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council resulting in the claimed injustice.

Delay in making final EHC Plan following Tribunal order

22. If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find fault because:
1. The Tribunal ordered the Council to make an EHC Plan for Y in late January 2025.
2. Therefore, to comply with the SEND Regulations the Council should have made the final EHC Plan within 11 weeks, by early April 2025.
3. The Council did not make the final EHC Plan until late July 2025, approximately 15 weeks after the deadline.
23. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused to Miss X by the delays.

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Agreed action

24. Within one month of this final decision the Council agreed to:
1. write to Miss X and apologise for the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay in making her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan; and
2. pay Miss X £350 to acknowledge the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay.

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Final decision

25. We upheld part of Miss X’s complaint because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused. We did not investigate part of the complaint because it was late. We did not investigate the remainder because the tests in our assessment code were not met.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman