Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council’s failure to complete an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment for Miss X’s child within the statutory timescale. The Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy and this removes the need for us to investigate.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about delay in the Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan process. She says the Council has failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice. She also says the Council has not provided her child with the provision outlined in his EHC Plan.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. 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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My assessment

6. Miss X applied for an EHC Plan for her child on 12 March 2025. The Council should have completed the assessment process and issued the final EHC Plan within 20 weeks of the initial request, by 30 July 2025. The Council completed the process on 27 February 2026 and has attributed the delay in part to the lack of educational psychology resource.
7. We are satisfied that the Council has a plan in place to address the lack of specialist advice. In response to our findings in a previous case, it sent us an action plan of its service improvements.
8. We do however accept the Council’s delays caused Miss X and her child frustration and uncertainty and that this injustice remains unremedied. We have therefore invited the Council to provide a remedy to Miss X and the Council, to its credit, has agreed to our proposal.
9. I appreciate Miss X is also unhappy the Council has not provided the provision outlined in the EHC Plan, but we cannot currently consider this issue. This is because Miss X has not yet raised this issue through the Council’s complaint procedure, so it has not had a reasonable opportunity to provide a response.
10. If Miss X wishes to pursue the issue she should raise a new complaint with the Council about it now. In the event Miss X remains dissatisfied once the Council has provided a final response she may bring it back to us and we will consider whether to investigate it.

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Agreed action

11. The Council has agreed to the following actions to remedy the complaint:
• Apologise to Miss X for the delay in the EHC Plan process.
• Pay Miss X £100 for each month of delay- a total of £675.
12. The Council has made an initial payment of £150 while dealing with the complaint under its internal complaints process. It should pay the remaining £525 within six weeks of today’s date, by 2 June 2026.
13. I consider the remedy agreed by the Council is suitable and that it is taking steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. It is therefore unlikely that an investigation would achieve anything more for Miss X.

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Final decision

14. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a proportionate remedy to the injustice caused to Miss X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman