Summary: The Council was at fault for delay issuing Mrs X’s child B’s Education, Health and Care plan and Personal Budget, for failing to provide B’s special educational provision, and for communicating poorly with Mrs X. This caused Mrs X distress, frustration, and uncertainty, and meant B missed some education. We find the Council has offered a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the way the Council handled her child B’s special educational needs. Specifically, she complained the Council:
1. failed to issue B’s final Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan within statutory timeframes;
2. mishandled B’s Personal Budget and gave contradictory reasons for its decisions;
3. failed to provide B with a meaningful education or the provision set out in B’s EHC plan;
4. refused to allocate a new caseworker; and,
5. communicated with her and responded to her complaint poorly.
2. Mrs X said this caused distress and frustration, impacted her wellbeing, and frustrated her appeal rights. She said it caused B anxiety and isolation, and the lack of education impacted them. Mrs X said B’s needs were not met and she felt forced to fund interim support.

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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. 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)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
6. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
7. 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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What I have and have not investigated

8. As I have said above, we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. In this case, Mrs X complained to us in September 2025 about events going back to 2022.
9. I have considered Mrs X’s reasons for not bringing her complaint to us earlier. I find there were reasonable opportunities for Mrs X to complain to us earlier. I have not found good reasons for us to exercise our discretion and look back further than 12 months before Mrs X complained to us.
10. I have therefore investigated from September 2024 (12 months before Mrs X complained to us) to January 2026 (when the Council sent its final complaint response).

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments and further information received before I reached a final decision.
12. I considered the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, set out below. I also considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies.

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What I found

What should have happened

Education, Health and Care plans

13. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. This plan sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.
14. The council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in their EHC plan (Section 42 Children and Families Act). 
15. The council must arrange for the EHC plan to be reviewed at least once a year to make sure it is up to date. At a review, if the council proposes to amend an EHC plan, it must issue the final amended EHC plan within 12 weeks of the review meeting.

 Personal Budgets

16. A Personal Budget is the amount of money the council has identified it needs to pay to secure the provision in a child or young person’s EHC plan. One way that councils can deliver a Personal Budget is through direct payments. These are cash payments made to the child’s parent or the young person so they can commission the provision in the EHC plan themselves.
17. A child’s parent or the young person has the right to request a Personal Budget.

What happened

18. Mrs X’s child, B, has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. There was a review of this plan in June 2024. The Council decided to amend B’s EHC plan.
19. In November, Mrs X asked the Council for a Personal Budget.
20. In May 2025, Mrs X complained. Also that month, the Council’s panel considered Mrs X’s request for a Personal Budget.
21. In its complaint responses, the Council apologised for its inconsistent communication and for the delay getting Mrs X’s request for a Personal Budget to its panel. It explained why it would not allocate Mrs X a new caseworker.
22. The Council recognised it had delayed issuing B’s EHC plan. It apologised for the frustration and wider impact of this. It also apologised for the frustration and disappointment caused by its poor communication. The Council accepted there had been a significant delay providing B’s special educational provision. It apologised for the drift and delay, and for the impact on B and the family.
23. The Council offered £7750 to remedy the injustice it recognised it had caused B and the family.
24. In September, Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman. At the same time, the Council issued the EHC plan.
25. In its further complaint responses, the Council apologised for the delay issuing B’s EHC plan and the inconvenience that caused. It set out the action it was taking to address the issues that had caused the delays and poor communication.

Analysis

Issuing the Education, Health and Care plan

26. Mrs X complained the Council failed to issue her child B’s final Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan within statutory timeframes (part a of the complaint).
27. The review of B’s EHC plan was in June 2024. The Council should have issued the amended plan in September 2024, 12 weeks later. The Council did not issue the plan until September 2025. This delay of 12 months is fault.
28. This fault caused Mrs X injustice because it denied her right to appeal the plan and it caused unnecessary and avoidable distress, uncertainty and frustration. Mrs X said this delay meant B did not have an accurate EHC plan which properly informed their provision. I agree.

Personal Budget

29. Mrs X complained the Council mishandled B’s Personal Budget and gave contradictory reasons for its decisions (part b of the complaint).
30. The Council delayed putting Mrs X’s request for a Personal Budget to its panel by six months. This delay is fault. I find this fault caused Mrs X injustice because it caused uncertainty.
31. Mrs X said the Council gave contradictory reasons for its decisions. She said the Council’s panel refused her request for one type of provision because it was not named in B’s EHC plan but agreed to another type of provision which was also not named in the plan.
32. The Council explained that the panel agreed to one type of provision because it “aligned directly” with B’s identified needs and their special educational provision. However, the other provision that Mrs X wanted was not set out in B’s plan and did not directly align with B’s special educational needs.
33. I can understand why Mrs X was confused with the Council’s decision-making. However, there is no fault here. The Council was entitled to make the decision it did.

Educational provision

34. Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide B with a meaningful education or the provision set out in B’s EHC plan (part c of the complaint).
35. The Council accepted in its complaint responses that it had failed to provide all of B’s special educational provision in line with their EHC plan. This is fault.
36. This caused B injustice because they did not get all of the provision they were entitled to. It also caused Mrs X injustice because it caused frustration and uncertainty.

Caseworker

37. Mrs X complained the Council refused to allocate a new caseworker (part d of the complaint).
38. The Council explained in its complaint responses its reasons for not allocating a new caseworker. The Council was entitled to keep that caseworker in place.
39. The Council recognised there were issues with that caseworker’s caseload which impacted their ability to respond in a timely way to Mrs X. The Council took action to address this. The Council then monitored the caseworker to ensure their communications and casework were consistent. This is the appropriate way to address such issues.
40. For these reasons, I do not find the Council at fault.

Communication

41. Mrs X complained the Council communicated with her and responded to her complaint poorly (part e of the complaint).
42. The Council accepted it had communicated poorly and inconsistently with Mrs X. I agree. This is fault. I find this caused Mrs X unnecessary and avoidable distress, frustration and uncertainty.

The Council’s complaint responses and remedies

43. The Council has apologised for the injustice caused by the faults. I am satisfied with the Council’s apology.
44. The Council offered Mrs X £7750 to remedy the injustice caused. Mrs X did not accept this offer.
45. I have considered our published guidance on remedies, the length of time of the injustices, and the significance of the impact on B and Mrs X. Taken together, I find the Council’s proposed financial remedy is a suitable, appropriate and proportionate remedy for the level and significance of injustice caused.
46. It is Mrs X’s decision whether or not to accept the Council’s offer. The Council should keep this offer open to Mrs X to accept or decline.

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Decision

47. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has offered a suitable, appropriate and proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman