Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her application for an Education, Health and Care Plan for her daughter Y. Ms X says the Council failed to provide education while her daughter could not attend school. Ms X says this has caused Y to miss education and distress for the whole family. We have found fault in the actions for the Council for delays in completing its assessment of Y’s needs and issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan. The Council has agreed to write to Ms X to issue an apology and pay her a symbolic payment.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s handling of her application for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for her daughter Y. Ms X says the Council failed to provide education while her daughter could not attend school.
2. Ms X says this has caused Y to miss education and distress for the whole family.

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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 law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal 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 appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. 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.
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)
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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What I have and have not investigated

8. I have not investigated any matters which were appealed to the tribunal or the timeframes when matters were under appeal. This is because the law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal 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 appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended).

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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 were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

11. 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. 
12. Statutory guidance ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (‘the Code’) sets out the process for carrying out EHC assessments and producing EHC Plans. The guidance is based on the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEN Regulations 2014. It says the following: 

• Where the council receives a request for an EHC needs assessment it must decide whether to agree to the assessment and send its decision to the parent of the child or the young person within six weeks. 
• If the council decides not to conduct an EHC needs assessment it must give the child’s parent or young person information about their right to appeal to the Tribunal.
• The process of assessing needs and developing EHC Plans “must be carried out in a timely manner”. Steps must be completed as soon as practicable. 
• If the council goes on to carry out an assessment, it must decide whether to issue an EHC Plan or refuse to issue a Plan within 16 weeks.
• If the council goes on to issue an EHC Plan, the whole process from the point when an assessment is requested until the final EHC Plan is issued must take no more than 20 weeks (unless certain specific circumstances apply);  
• Councils must give the child’s parent or the young person 15 days to comment on a draft EHC Plan and express a preference for an educational placement.
• The council must consult with the parent or young person’s preferred educational placement who should respond within 15 calendar days.

13. Following completion of an EHC needs assessment, if the Council decides an EHC Plan is not necessary it must notify the child's parents or the young person of its decision and of their right to appeal that decision.

Appeal rights

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

• decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment or reassessment;
• decision that it is not necessary to issue a EHC Plan following an assessment;
• 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;
• decision not to amend an EHC Plan following a review or reassessment; and
• decision to cease to maintain an EHC Plan.

Elective Home Education

15. Parents have a right to educate their children at home (Section 7, Education Act 1996). This can include the use of tutors or parental support groups. Elective home education is distinct from education provided by a council otherwise than at school, for example when a child is too ill to attend. In choosing to educate a child at home, the parents take on financial responsibility for any costs involved, including examination costs.

Section 19 duty

16. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that the council 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 make 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

17. Ms X and Y moved into the Council’s area in around early 2023.
18. Ms X contacted the Council in March 2023 and said she would be Electively Home Educating (EHE) Y in March 2023. Shortly after this Ms X contacted the Council to request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for Y. The Council asked Ms X to provide a parental information form in mid-April 2023.
19. The Council gathered information for the needs assessment and recorded that information provided said that Y was EHE.
20. The Council issued a decision not to assess Y in mid-June 2023. Ms X appealed this decision to the Tribunal.
21. The Council conceded the appeal in mid-November 2023 and agreed to assess Y. The Tribunal confirmed the Council conceded the appeal and that the Tribunal was at an end in December 2023.
22. The Council emailed Ms X in early March 2024 and confirmed it agreed to assess Y but advised there had been delays in agreeing this and generally it was experiencing delays in gaining Educational Psychologist (EP) advice.
23. Ms X contacted the Council in mid-June 2024 to chase an update. The Council told Ms X in August 2024 it was still waiting for an EP to be allocated to Y’s case.
24. Ms X responded to the Council and said the delays were hindering Y’s progress. Ms X also asked for help with educating Y and enquired about an Educated Other Than at School (EOTAS) package.
25. The Council received Y’s EP report in January 2025 and wrote to Ms X in February 2025 to confirm it believed Y’s needs could be met appropriately at school Special Educational Need support level and without the need for an EHC Plan.
26. Ms X contacted the Council in February 2025 and raised a complaint. Ms X said she was unhappy with the way the Council had completed Y’s EHCNA and that it had neglected Y’s needs. The Council responded in March 2025.
27. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision not to issue an EHC Plan to the Tribunal in May 2025 and raised a stage two complaint. Ms X said she felt Y had been given no support which had resulted in a lack of education.
28. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint in early June 2025 and said following a further review at panel it found no evidence that provision could not be provided within the ordinarily available provision in a school setting.
29. Y started attending a school setting in September 2025. The Council also wrote to the Tribunal to confirm it had conceded the appeal regarding its decision not to issue an EHC Plan.
30. The Council issued a final EHC Plan in mid-November 2025.

Analysis

Education, Health and Care Plans.

31. Ms X supplied the Council the information it requested to allow the EHCNA to go ahead in mid- April 2023. The Council did not issue a decision until mid-June 2023 which was slightly outside of the statutory timescale. This is fault and would have caused Ms X frustration.
32. Following the Council conceding Ms X’s appeal of its decision not to complete an EHCNA for Y in November 2023 the Council did not complete the assessment until February 2025. The Council should have completed the assessment within four weeks of its notification to the Tribunal. It did not do so here. This is fault and would have caused Ms X distress, frustration and delayed her appeal rights. While I appreciate the Council were awaiting EP advice for most of this time, there was still a significant delay.
33. The Council made a decision not to issue an EHC Plan for Y in February 2025 which Ms X then appealed. The Council conceded this appeal in early September 2025 but then did not issue a final plan until mid-November. The Council should have issued the EHC Plan within five weeks of its notification to Tribunal. I cannot see this happened here. This is fault and would have caused Ms X distress.

Alternative provision.

34. Ms X told the Council she was Electively Home educating Y in March 2023. I understand Ms X felt she had to make that decision but following her advising the Council of this she assumed responsibility for Y’s education.
35. Ms X then asked the Council to consider a different package for Y in August 2024 but I have not been able to see the Council took any action regarding this request until Y started attending a new school in September 2025. Ms X has said Y received no provision between these points. This is fault and has caused Y to miss education for around one school year. It has also caused Ms X distress and frustration.

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Action

36. Within four weeks of a final decision, the Council should:

• Write to Ms X to apologise for the distress caused by the faults identified. 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 £1,400 to recognise the distress and frustration caused by the delays in completing the EHCNA process. This is calculated at roughly £100 per month.
• Pay Ms X £6,000 to recognise the lost education provision between September 2024 and September 2025. This is calculated at roughly £2,000 per term.

37. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

38. I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman