Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure suitable education for Y while he was out of school and delayed completing a reassessment of his Education, Health and Care needs. The Council was at fault for delay in agreeing to a reassessment and for not securing suitable education, causing frustration and meaning Y missed out on education he was entitled to. The Council has agreed to apologise and make payment to recognise the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to ensure her son, Y, received suitable alternative education after he was excluded from school in January 2025. Mrs X also says the Council delayed in completing a reassessment of Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs and updating his EHC Plan. Mrs X says as a result, Y did not receive the education he was entitled to and has been caused distress.

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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. 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)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. 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.
7. Due to the restrictions on our powers to investigate where there is an appeal right, there will be cases where there has been past injustice which neither we, nor the Tribunal, can remedy. The courts have found that the fact a complainant will be left without a remedy does not mean we can investigate a complaint. (R (ER) v Commissioner for Local Administration, ex parte Field) 1999 EWHC 754 (Admin). 
8. 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)
9. 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

10. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
11. If someone has, or could have appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, connected to, or could have been part of the appeal. As Mrs X had the right to appeal the content of Y’s EHC Plans to the Tribunal, I have not investigated the content of Y’s EHC Plans or any issues connected to the Tribunal.
12. We cannot usually investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months before they were brought to the Ombudsman. We can only exercise discretion to look back further if there are good reasons to do so.
13. As Mrs X first brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in September 2025, anything that took place before September 2024 would be considered a late complaint and I have seen no reason to look back further than that point.
14. We cannot usually investigate complaints unless we are satisfied the Council has had a chance to look into them first. This includes events that are linked to or ongoing from the complaint that has been brought to us.
15. As the Council issued its final response to Mrs X’s complaint on 5 September 2025, I have investigated up to that point. If Mrs X wants the Ombudsman to consider any events that occurred since 5 September 2025, she will first need to raise a new complaint with the Council to give it an opportunity to respond.
16. Any mention below to events that took place either before September 2024 or after 5 September 2025 are for reference only.

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How I considered this complaint

17. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
18. Mrs X and the Council 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

EHC Plans

19. A child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) may have an 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. 
20. 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).
21. The council must decide whether to conduct a reassessment of a child or young person’s EHC Plan if this is requested by the child’s parent, the young person or their educational placement. The council may also decide to complete a reassessment if it thinks one is necessary.
22. The council can refuse a request for a reassessment if less than six months have passed since a previous EHC needs assessment. It can also refuse a request if it does not think it is necessary, for example because it does not feel a child or young person’s needs have changed significantly.
23. The council must tell the child’s parent or the young person whether it will complete an EHC needs reassessment within 15 calendar days of receiving the request. If the decision is not to reassess, the council must also provide information about the right to appeal that decision to the Tribunal.
24. If the council agrees to an EHC needs reassessment, it has 14 weeks to issue the final EHC Plan from the date it agreed to reassess to the date it issues the final amended EHC Plan.
25. Councils must arrange for a child’s parents or the young person to receive information about mediation as an informal way to resolve disputes about decisions that can be appealed to the Tribunal. Parents need to consider mediation and get a ‘mediation certificate’ before they can appeal to the Tribunal. They do not have to agree to attend mediation.
26. A child’s parents or the young person do not have to consider mediation if their disagreement only relates to the placement named in section I or that no placement is named in section I.
27. For young people moving from secondary school to a post-16 institution or apprenticeship, the council must review and amend the EHC Plan – including specifying the post-16 provision and naming the institution – by 31 March in the calendar year of the transfer.  

Section 19 duty

28. Councils must “make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise than at school for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.” (Education Act 1996, section 19(1))
29. The "otherwise" category provides for a wide range of scenarios where the Council may have a legal duty under section 19. It would include, for example, when a child was refusing to attend school due to anxiety or phobia. (Statutory guidance ‘Alternative Provision’ January 2013)
30. Suitable education means efficient education suitable to a child’s age, ability and aptitude and to any special educational needs they may have. (Education Act 1996, section 19(6))
31. The education provided by the council must be full-time unless the council determines that full-time education would not be in the child’s best interests for reasons of the child’s physical or mental health. (Education Act 1996, section 3A and 3AA)
32. Where councils arrange for schools or other bodies to carry out their functions on their behalf, the council remains responsible and so should retain oversight and control to ensure duties are properly fulfilled.

What happened

33. I have summarised below some key events leading to Mrs X’s complaint. While I have considered everything said and submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
34. Y has SEN and his education is supported by an EHC Plan.
35. Y’s EHC Plan annual review took place on 17 October 2024. At this point Y was in year 11 at School A. During this meeting, Mrs X asked the Council to complete a reassessment of Y’s EHC needs. The Council said School A should request updated reports from SALT and physio as these would be needed for the phase transfer EHC Plan.
36. In January 2025, School A permanently excluded Y and provided him with online learning sessions working on skills in Maths, English and Science.
37. Mrs X says the online provision was not suitable for Y and he was not able to access this.
38. On 29 March 2025 the Council issued a final phase transfer EHC Plan for Y.
39. Mrs X asked the Council to enter into mediation and on 1 July 2025 this resulted in the Council agreeing to reassess Y’s EHC needs.
40. Mrs X complained to the Council as she said she had been waiting for it to reassess Y’s EHC needs since October 2024 and as a result of the delay, his EHC Plan contained inaccurate information. Mrs X also said the Council had failed to ensure Y received suitable provision since he was excluded from School A in January 2025 and as a result he had missed his GCSEs.
41. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint in September 2025. The Council agreed Mrs X had raised multiple concerns about the interim education arrangements that had been put in place for Y and accepted it had not made changes to the offer of education when it should have done. The Council said this aspect of Mrs X’s complaint was fully upheld. The Council confirmed it was now reassessing Y’s EHC needs and it expected to issue a draft EHC Plan by the end of that month. The Council explained it had also now arranged for a package of interim education to be put in place for Y from that month.
42. The Council sent a draft EHC Plan to Mrs X on 18 September 2025.

Analysis

43. Mrs X asked the Council to reassess Y’s EHC needs during his EHC Plan annual review on 17 October 2024. The Council then had 15 days to let Mrs X know whether it would reassess Y’s EHC needs, meaning by 1 November 2024. However, I have seen no evidence that the Council did this.
44. Not notifying Mrs X of its decision on whether to reassess Y’s EHC needs within 15 calendar days amounts to fault. This caused uncertainty for Mrs X and frustrated her right of appeal until the Council issued Y’s phase transfer EHC Plan on 29 March 2025, around four months later, which is injustice.
45. I find the Council ought to apologise to Mrs X and make a payment to recognise the period of uncertainty and delayed appeal rights. The Council has explained the delays were down to long term staff absence impacting capacity. I am satisfied this is not a systemic issue, so I do not make any further service improvement remedy.
46. The Council agreed to reassess Y’s EHC needs on 1 July 2025. From that point the Council had 14 weeks to complete the reassessment and issue a final EHC Plan, meaning by 7 October 2025. Up to the end point of my investigation, the Council had not missed this deadline and so I do not find it at fault here.
47. From January 2025, Y was excluded from School A and only had access to very limited online provision, which Mrs X says was unsuitable and inaccessible for him. From this point the Council needed to consider its duty to make arrangements for the provision of suitable education. In its response to Mrs X’s complaint the Council agreed it failed to do so, which is fault. This meant Y missed out on provision he would have been entitled to across two school terms in the period I have investigated, which is injustice.
48. It is not my role to say what alternative provision Y should have received or what level of education was suitable for him. However, I find the Council ought to make a symbolic payment of £1,500 per term to acknowledge the impact of the loss. This takes account of the fact the missed provision was in year 11, when Y was due to sit his GCSEs.

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Action

49. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council should carry out the following actions within one month:
• Provide Mrs X with a written apology for the injustice caused by the delay in responding to her request to reassess Y’s EHC needs and the failure to implement alternative educational support for Y while he was out of school. 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 Mrs X £150 in recognition of the injustice caused by the delay in responding to her request to reassess Y’s EHC needs; and
• Pay Mrs X £3,000 in recognition of the educational provision Y missed between January 2025 and September 2025.
50. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

51. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman