Summary: The Council failed to arrange alternative provision and secure the provision in Mr X’s child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This caused Y to miss two and a half terms of provision. The Council also delayed issuing a final amended EHC Plan following Y’s annual review. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Mr X for the impact on Y, and review its processes.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to review his child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, secure an educational placement and the provision in the Plan after his family moved to the area. Mr X also complained the Council failed to secure an alternative education for Y during this time. Mr X said this meant Y missed out on their education and the provision in their EHC Plan, causing his family severe distress. He wants the Council to name a school and secure provision for Y.

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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 recommend 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 with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mr X and the Council have 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

The law

Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans

7. 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. 
8. 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)  
9. Where a child or young person moves to another council, the ‘old’ council must transfer the EHC Plan to the ‘new’ council. The new council must make sure the provision in the EHC Plan begins on the day of the move or within 15 working days of becoming aware of the move if this is later. The new council must review the EHC Plan either within 12 months of it last being reviewed or three months of the date of the transfer, whichever is the later date. (Section 15 Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014)  
10. Where the council proposes to amend an EHC Plan, the law says it must send the child’s parent or the young person a copy of the existing (non-amended) Plan and an accompanying notice providing details of the proposed amendments, including copies of any evidence to support the proposed changes. (Section 22(2) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN Code paragraph 9.194). Case law sets out this should happen within four weeks of the date of the review meeting. Case law also found councils must issue the final amended EHC Plan within a further eight weeks.

Alternative provision

11. 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.
12. If the council decides it must arrange alternative provision, it needs to arrange provision based on the child’s individual needs. It should also have a review process to ensure the provision remains in the child’s best interests. If a child has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan the council also has an ongoing duty to arrange the support guaranteed by the Plan.

The Armed Forces Covenant

13. The Armed Forces Covenant (the Covenant) places a legal duty on public bodies to have due regard to Covenant Principles when carrying out housing, education and healthcare functions. The principles say:
• military families should not face any disadvantage compared with others in the provision of public services; and
• special consideration is appropriate in some cases.
14. The SEN code accepts service personnel move location frequently and at short notice. It says councils must manage these transitions well to avoid service children with SEN experiencing delays in having their needs assesses and met (SEN code paragraphs 10.53 to 10.59)
15. We published guidance about the Covenant to raise awareness among council staff. We said they needed to ensure they considered covenant commitments appropriately when military families approached them for services or support. (Armed Forces Covenant, Guidance for Practitioners, November 2019)

What happened

16. Mr X serves in the armed forces and lived in another council’s area. His child Y had an EHC Plan and records showed they engaged well with their education and attended school consistently. The provision in their EHC Plan was intended for delivery in a special school environment by skilled staff with experience of pupils with complex learning difficulties, speech and language difficulties and devising a differentiated curriculum. Provision in the EHC Plan included:
• Consistent use of visual and verbal learning approaches, with multiple literacy and numeracy sessions per week.
• A learning programme designed by a Speech and Language therapist (SALT) delivered by appropriately trained school staff.
• Access to an emotional literacy support assistant (ELSA) to support learning time.
17. In February 2025 Mr X informed the Council his family was moving to the area later that year, and Y’s EHC Plan would need to be transferred for them to start a new school in September 2025. The original council responsible for Y’s EHC Plan reviewed the Plan before Y’s move, in late March 2025. In April 2025 the Council consulted with Mr X’s preferred placement, school A. School A said it could meet Y’s needs but had no capacity to take Y.
18. Mr X moved into the area in July 2025. On 21 August 2025 he complained to the Council. He said Y needed a placement in a specialist school from September 2025, and the Council should instruct school A to take Y. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint on 23 September 2025. It received Y’s paperwork from the original council on the same day. It accepted it had not offered Y any alternative provision or temporary education and apologised. It said it was not obliged to name school A in any EHC Plan. It said someone would be in touch to discuss options with Mr X.
19. In early October 2025 the Council started looking for alternative placements for Y and Mr X asked it to escalate his complaint to stage two of its complaint procedure. The Council responded a few days later. It said it was satisfied with its stage one consideration, and it continued to look for a placement for Y.
20. Mr X met with the Council a few weeks later. The Council said it had approached school A again and was exploring short term education other than at school (EOTAS). It said its aim was for Y to be in a school that could meet their needs by the summer term (2026). It said it would arrange a review of Y’s EHC Plan and provide an update by 7 November.
21. Mr X emailed the Council on 7 November. He said it had not kept to its deadline, and Y was still without an education. He asked to submit a new complaint. Mr X chased the Council again a few days later. The Council replied saying school A had confirmed it was still full and the Council was considering alternative. provision. It said it would keep in touch with school A to see if the situation changed. It said it was open to Mr X to submit a new complaint.
22. Mr X registered a new complaint over the Council’s communication, which the Council acknowledged. In mid-November 2025 the Council agreed a temporary EOTAS package for Y.
23. The Council responded to Mr X’s new complaint on 26 November 2025. It apologised for its poor communication and said it had put measures in place to address this in future. It said a senior officer was liaising with school A and Y’s EOTAS was progressing. It said it would keep Mr X informed by email. Mr X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.
24. Y’s EOTAS package started in January 2026 and consisted of:
• three, five-hour sessions with an alternative provision provider;
• three, two-hours of home tutoring a week;
• two, two-hour visits a week to animal charities;
• one 30-minute music lesson a week; and
• one swimming lesson a week.
25. The Council held an annual review for Y on 27 February 2026 and issued an amended EHC Plan for Y on 9 June 2026.

My findings

The transfer of Y’s EHC Plan and Y’s SEN provision

26. The SEN Code sets out the Council’s responsibilities when a child with an EHC Plan moves into its area. It also explicitly sets out the extra care required of councils when handling transfers for children of members of the armed forces.
27. When Mr X and Y moved to the Council’s area, the Council became responsible for securing the provision in Y’s EHC Plan. In practice the Council should have done this from 23 September 2025 when the EHC Plan was officially transferred. Mr X told the Council of the move in February 2025. By April 2025 the Council was aware school A would not accept Y but did not start looking at alternative placements until Mr X complained. As a result, the Council did not secure the provision in Y’s EHC Plan from 23 September 2025. This was fault.
28. In January 2026, the Council put temporary EOTAS in place for Y, when it could not secure a suitable school placement. While this ensured Y received some education, the EOTAS did not reflect the SEN provision in Y’s EHC Plan, and the Council did not issue a revised Plan to reflect the provision it had secured. As a result, the Council remained responsible for securing the provision in Y’s existing EHC Plan and continued to not secure that provision from January 2026. This was fault.
29. In failing to ensure Y continued to receive the provision in their EHC Plan following their move from another authority, the Council also failed to meet its obligations under the Armed Forces Covenant.

Alternative provision

30. When Y did not start a new school in September 2025 the Council was also responsible for arranging suitable alternative education. In its complaint response to Mr X the Council accepted it had failed to arrange alternative provision for Y from September 2025. This was fault. While the EOTAS package arranged in January 2026 did not meet the requirements of Y’s EHC Plan, I am satisfied it provided Y with suitable alternative educational provision.

Impact on Y

31. The Council failed to provide Y with an alternative education from the start of the Autumn 2025 term to January 2026 and failed secure the provision in Y’s EHC Plan from 23 September 2025. I have investigated events up to the amended EHC Plan issued on 9 June 2026. It is open to Mr X to complain about any further missed provision after this date.
32. This amounts to two and a half terms of missed education. We typically recommend between £900 and £2400 per term in recognition of lost provision. The figure can be lower when considering any educational provision made during the period and whether additional provision can remedy some or all of the loss.
33. Considering the specific code requirements for the Council to plan Y’s transition, and that Y was previously engaging well with their school-based education, but received some education during this period, I have recommended £1200 per term for the missed special educational provision and delayed transition, in line with our Guidance on Remedies.

Y’s annual review and new EHC Plan

34. The Council had until March 2026 to review Y’s EHC Plan and did so by February 2026. The Council was not at fault. Having agreed to amend Y’s EHC Plan the Council had 12 weeks to issue the amended EHC Plan. This was May 22 2026. The Council issued Y’s amended EHC Plan on 9 June 2026. This was fault causing Mr X further uncertainty and frustration.

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Action

35. Within one month of the final decision the Council should:
1. Apologise to Mr X for the impact of the identified failings. 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.
2. Pay Mr X £3,000 to recognise the impact of two and a half terms of missed alternative provision and SEN provision on Y between September 2025 and June 2026.
36. Within three months of the final decision the Council should:
1. Review its processes for the transition of EHC Plans from other authorities, ensuring early consideration of EHC Plans that require an interim review due to challenges securing the provision in the existing EHC Plan. The review should pay particular attention to any additional consideration needed to meet the Council’s duties under the Armed Forces covenant.
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 which the Council has agreed to remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman