Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to ensure Mrs X’s child, Y, received some of the specialist provision in their EHC Plan from January 2025 to date. The Council has agreed to apologise and provide Mrs X with a financial payment to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained her child, Y, has not received speech and language therapy (SALT) and occupational therapy (OT) as set out in their EHC Plan. As a result, Mrs X says Y has not received a suitable education.

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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 future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)
4. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision statement with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I have and have not investigated

5. The courts have established that if someone has appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, was connected to, or could have been part of, the appeal to the Tribunal. (R (on application of Milburn) v Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman [2023] EWCA Civ 207)
6. This means that if a child or young person is not attending school, and we decide the reason for non-attendance is linked to, or is a consequence of, a parent or young person’s disagreement about the special educational provision or the educational placement in the EHC Plan, we cannot investigate a lack of special educational provision, or alternative educational provision.
7. Mrs X said Y’s EHC Plan was issued in June 2024 which included OT and mainstream school setting. Mrs X appealed section F and I of the Plan. Mrs X did not send Y to school as she said it was unsuitable. In January 2025, the tribunal ordered the Council to amend the EHC Plan to include SALT. Mrs X complained Y has received no OT since June 2024 to date and no SALT from January 2025 to date. I cannot investigate anything before January 2025 because of the information set out in paragraphs 5 and 6.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. 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

Relevant law and guidance

10. 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. 
11. 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). The Courts have said the duty to arrange this provision is owed personally to the child and is non-delegable. This means if the council asks another organisation to make the provision and that organisation fails to do so, the council remains liable (R v London Borough of Harrow ex parte M [1997] ELR 62), (R v North Tyneside Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 135)  

What happened

12. Mrs X has a child, Y, who has special educational needs and an EHC Plan in place. From January 2025, Y was entitled to the following provision:
• Specialist Speech and Language Therapy input in the short-term, while effective communication strategies and systems are being identified, on a termly basis (consisting of approximately 1 hour of direct contact and 1-2 hours of indirect contact e.g. discussion with home/education setting and target/report writing). Communication strategies will be shared with parents and education staff.
• A block of 12 weekly 1:1 sessions with an Occupational Therapist trained in Sensory Integration to help better understand Y’s sensory needs, identify triggers and provide tailored strategies and activities to help.
• A block of 12 1:1 sessions with an Occupational Therapist (as above) to help support Y to improve gross and fine motor skills.
• Sessions will be 30 minutes per week direct contact time and 30 minutes per week non-contact time for liaison and clinical administration.
• This intervention will be reviewed termly allowing 1-2 hours per visit for direct contact time, liaison, and clinical administration.
• In addition, Y will follow a programme for 10-15 minutes daily to help strengthen motor skills.
13. In July 2025, Mrs X complained to the Council that it had failed to put in place the SALT and OT provision outlined in Y’s EHC Plan. Mrs X said Y has had six hospital admissions relating to sensory seeking behaviours and Y requires the OT provision to support this. Mrs X also said Y doesn’t have a consistent method of communication other than leading a trusted person by the hand to an area where Y may want something. As a result of the lack of SALT, Mrs X said Y has made no progress with communication.
14. The Council issued a final complaint response in September 2025 saying it did not make efforts to secure SALT and OT provision until March 2025. It accepted this provision was still not in place. The Council offered Mrs X a £500 financial remedy but Mrs X said she did not accept this.
15. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of the matter and complained to us. Mrs X told us as of May 2026 the provision is still not in place.

Council’s response to our enquiries

16. The Council has said it actively sought to commission independent providers to deliver this support. It said the current delay relates to a lack of capacity within independent SALT and OT providers able to take on new cases, which is outside the direct control of the Council. The Council said it continues to pursue all available options to secure the required provision as soon as possible by using a range of measures:
• An internal therapy workforce
• An established framework of commissioned independent providers
• Use of spot purchasing where appropriate
• Consideration of personal budgets to enable families to source provision independently
17. The Council said it would like to propose a financial remedy of £1,750 in recognition of around 3.5 terms of missed therapy provision between January 2025-March 2026. This equates to £500 per term.

My findings

18. Y has an EHC Plan in place and the Council had a non-delegable duty to make sure Y received the special educational provision set out in section F of the Plan.
19. The Council failed to ensure Y received the SALT and OT provision as set out in their Plan from January 2025 to date. This was fault which meant Y has gone almost 4 terms without the provision they require. This has impacted Y’s ability to make as much progress as they could have against the targets in their Plan.
20. The Council has offered Mrs X a payment of £1750 in recognition of 3.5 terms of missed therapy provision between January 2025-March 2026 which equates to £500 per term. I am satisfied this a sufficient remedy. I will make a further recommendation below from April 2026 to date.
21. I have not made any service improvements as the Council has explained the action it is taking to reduce wait times. We will continue to monitor this through our case work.

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Action

22. Within one month of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Mrs X for the injustice caused by Y’s missed provision. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
2. Put in place the SALT and OT provision Y is entitled to in their EHC Plan.
3. Pay Mrs X £1750 in recognition of Y’s 3.5 terms of missed therapy provision between January 2025-March 2026.
4. Pay Mrs X £500 per term, in recognition of Y’s missed therapy provision, from April 2026 until the date of the Ombudsman’s final decision.
23. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

24. 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