Summary: We have ended our investigation into Mr X’s complaint about the actions of the Council relating to his child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because some parts of Mr X’s complaint are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to investigate and there is no worthwhile outcome investigating the remaining points within jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council at first refused to conduct an Education, Health and Care Plan Needs assessment for their child.

2. Mr X also complained the Council finalised their child’s Education, Health and Care Plan before the 15-day review period to allow for their comments ended.
3. Mr X also disputed the contents of the Education, Health and Care Plan including the Council placing Speech and Language Therapy provision in Section G rather than Section F. Mr X also complained about the Council’s refusal to provide a Personal Budget for the Speech and Language Therapy. Mr X says they have been trying to arrange for the Council to provide the Speech and Language Therapy since 2024 with Mr X funding this provision meanwhile.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
5. 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)
6. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended)
7. 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.
8. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Health Bodies or NHS Services. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
9. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide: there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Mr 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 Plan

12. A child or young person with special educational needs 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. 
13. Statutory guidance ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’ (‘the Code’) sets out the process for carrying out EHC assessments and producing EHC Plans. The guidance is based on the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEN Regulations 2014. It says the following: 

• Where the council receives a request for an EHC needs assessment it must decide whether to agree to the assessment and send its decision to the parent of the child or the young person within six weeks. 
• If the council decides not to conduct an EHC needs assessment it must give the child’s parent or young person information about their right to appeal to the Tribunal.
• The process of assessing needs and developing EHC Plans “must be carried out in a timely manner”. Steps must be completed as soon as practicable. 
• Councils must give the child’s parent or the young person 15 days to comment on a draft EHC Plan and express a preference for an educational placement.

14. Parents have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal if they disagree with the special educational provision or the school named in their child’s Education, Health and Care Plan.
15. Parents can also appeal to the Tribunal about the health and social care aspects of an EHC Plan, although the Tribunal can only make non-binding recommendations on these matters.

What happened

16. In 2023, Mr X made an EHC Plan Needs Assessment request for his child, Y. The Council refused to carry out an EHC Plan Needs Assessment in November 2023. Following contact from Mr X, the Council agreed to carry out an EHC Plan Needs Assessment in December 2023.
17. In March 2024, the Council issued a Final EHC Plan for Y. The Council included Speech and Language Therapy in Section G of Y’s EHC Plan.
18. In September 2024, the Council completed an annual review meeting of Y’s EHC Plan.
19. The Council issued an amended Draft EHC Plan for Y in February 2025 before issuing an amended Final EHC Plan ten days later.
20. In September 2025, Mr X complained to the Council. Mr X said the Council:
• Refused to carry out an EHC Plan Needs Assessment for Y.
• Did not allow fifteen days for them to comment on the Draft EHC Plan before finalising the plan.
• Failed to provide Y’s Speech and Language Therapy provision. Mr X said because of this, they have been sourcing private Speech and Language Therapy for Y which has cost them thousands of pounds.
• Failed to provide a Personal Budget for Y’s Speech and Language Therapy.
21. The Council sent Mr X a stage one complaint response later in September 2025. The Council said:
• It acknowledged it did not correctly identify Y needed an EHC Plan Needs Assessment in the first instance and apologised for this. The Council said it addressed this in a timely manner.
• It apologised for finalising Y’s EHC Plan before the fifteen-day period for comments expired. The Council explained it did this to issue the EHC Plan before the deadline for transition to secondary school but acknowledged this was an error.
• It had provided feedback to the SEND Manager to ensure the consultation period is consistently offered in future.
• If the Council and parents cannot agree on what should be in an EHC Plan, a parent can appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
• It had referred the complaint about non-provision of the Speech and Language Therapy to the NHS Complaints team because this provision was in Section G.
22. Mr X sought consideration of his complaint at stage two of the Council’s process. Mr X said part of his complaint was the Speech and Language Therapy should be in Section F and not Section G of the EHC Plan.
23. In November 2025, the Council sent a stage two complaint response to Mr X. The Council:
• Reiterated its apology for at first refusing to assess Y for an EHC Plan.
• Reiterated its apology for finalising Y’s EHC Plan without allowing the full comments time period.
• Reiterated that any dispute about the contents of the EHC Plan is a matter for the SEND Tribunal.
• Said there is an annual review meeting scheduled for December 2025 which will allow Mr X opportunity to discuss a personal budget.
• Directed Mr X to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
24. In November 2025, Mr X brought his complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
25. In December 2025, Mr X appealed Y’s EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal about placing Y’s Speech and Language Therapy in Section G rather than Section F.

Analysis

Refusing to assess Y for an EHC Plan

26. The Council’s decision not to assess Y for an EHC Plan occurred in 2023. This is two years before Mr X brought his complaint to the attention of the Ombudsman. I cannot investigate complaints about matters which someone has taken more than 12 months to complain to us about. There is no good reason Mr X could not have brought this part of his complaint to the Ombudsman’s attention sooner. This part of Mr X’s complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to investigate because of the passage of time.

Opportunity to comment

27. The Council finalised Y’s EHC Plan ten days after issuing the Draft EHC Plan in February 2025. The Council has already accepted fault for failing to allow Mr X the full fifteen days to comment on the Draft EHC Plan. The Council explained its reasons why this happened and put in place service improvements to prevent a recurrence of this fault.
28. The Ombudsman cannot require changes to Y’s EHC Plan. As such, there is no worthwhile outcome in the Ombudsman completing a further investigation into this part of Mr X’s complaint.

Contents of EHC Plan and Personal Budget

29. As explained in paragraph 28, the Ombudsman cannot require changes to a child’s EHC Plan. Only the SEND Tribunal can require changes to a child’s EHC Plan unless such changes are agreed between a parent and the Council.
30. Mr X has already appealed the contents of the EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal about including the Speech and Language Therapy in Section G rather than Section F. Since Mr X has appealed this to the SEND Tribunal, the Ombudsman cannot also investigate the same matter.
31. Any dispute about provision of a Personal Budget for the Speech and Language Therapy would be intrinsically linked to the dispute raised with the SEND Tribunal. And, any dispute about non-delivery of the Section G EHC Plan provision is a matter which is the responsibility of the relevant health authority and not the Council. This means this complaint matter is also outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction to investigate.

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Decision

32. I have ended my investigation as there is no worthwhile outcome of investigating this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman