Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to tell Mrs X that if she paid for a private educational psychologist assessment for her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment, it would not mean the assessment would finish any sooner, or that it would not reimburse her. If the Council had not been at fault, Mrs X likely would not have paid for the advice, so the Council will reimburse her.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council took too long to assess her child, W, for an Education, Health and Care Plan, because it was unable to arrange for an Educational Psychologist (EP) to assess W promptly. Mrs X said this meant she felt forced to pay for a private EP assessment which caused her financial harm and meant she could not pay for items to support W. Mrs X said the financial pressure impacted on her mental health, family and work life.

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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 suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
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).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. 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

Law and guidance

Education, Health and Care Plans

8. Children with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. This sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.
9. 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.
• If the person goes on to successfully appeal that decision, the council must complete the assessment. If, following the assessment, the council decides to issue an EHC Plan, it must do so within 14 weeks of the Tribunal’s order.

10. As part of the assessment, councils must gather advice from relevant professionals (SEND Regulation 6(1)). This includes psychological advice and information from an Educational Psychologist (EP).

The Council’s approach to Educational Psychologists

11. There is a national shortage of EPs, which, combined with significant increased demand for EHC assessments, means that the wait for EP advice can be lengthy. To address this, the Council has implemented an EHC Plan waiting list ‘recovery plan’. As part of that plan, the Council agreed a £3m investment in late November 2025 to:
• Hire and keep more EPs;
• Streamline the assessment process;
• Provide greater support to parents while assessments are ongoing; and
• Improve how it monitors the process of assessments.
12. The Council is also working on its approach to having EPs carrying out virtual assessments and has commissioned an independent company of EPs to clear its backlog.
13. In response to a previous investigation (25 007 284), the Council told the Ombudsman that when a parent commissions a private EP assessment it considers if the assessment is of suitable quality to meet its requirements for EHC needs assessments. If it is, the Council will not require the child to have a Council-commissioned EP assessment as well.
14. The Council confirmed that purchasing a private EP assessment does not mean a child’s EHC needs assessment will be completed any sooner than if the child had waited for a Council commissioned EP assessment. The Council’s position is that, unless in exceptional circumstances, it will not reimburse parents for the cost of a private EP assessment.
15. That investigation concluded the Council had been at fault because it had not told the parent that it would not reimburse her for the cost of a private EP assessment or that obtaining such advice would not speed up her child’s EHC assessment. This meant the parent paid for the advice when they likely would not have done if they had all the information from the Council. We recommended the Council:
• Add information on its website about its approach to parents commissioning private EP advice. It would also add that information to the letters it sends to parents when it decides it will assess a child for an EHC Plan; and
• Prepare a policy or guidance for staff which sets out the Council’s approach to private EP advice.
16. The Council completed those recommendations in May 2026.

What happened

17. In June 2025, Mrs X asked the Council to assess W for an EHC Plan. The Council refused to carry out an assessment in late July. Mrs X appealed to the SEND Tribunal, which issued its decision in late October 2025, after the Council conceded the appeal and agreed to assess W.
18. The Council told Mrs X that there is a shortage of Educational Psychologists, which would mean W’s EHC assessment would exceed the statutory timescales. As a result, she commissioned a private assessment.
19. The EP issued their advice in November 2025. Mrs X sent it to the Council and asked it to refund her the cost of the advice, which amounted to £1,220. The Council refused.
20. The Council reviewed the advice and decided it was suitable for use in the EHC assessment. It issued W’s final EHC Plan in mid-February 2026.

Findings

21. We expect councils to follow statutory timescales set out in the law and the Code. We are likely to find fault where there are significant breaches of those timescales.
22. The Council issued its decision not to assess W within six weeks of receiving Mrs X’s assessment request. This was within the statutory timescale so was not fault.
23. Once the Council received the Tribunal’s decision, it had 14 weeks to issue W’s EHC Plan. It did so within 16 weeks. This slight delay does not amount to fault.
24. Mrs X commissioned the private EP assessment in the belief it would prevent any delay waiting for the outcome of W’s EHC needs assessment and ultimately, W’s final EHC Plan. It was reasonable for Mrs X to conclude that paying for a private EP assessment would expedite W’s case, given the wait for an EP assessment was the reason why W’s assessment would breach the 14-week timescale.
25. However, the Council has confirmed that if a parent obtains private EP advice, this does not necessarily mean their child would receive their final EHC Plan any sooner. The Council did not tell Mrs X this directly or through other means like its website. Nor did the Council tell Mrs X that it would not reimburse her even if it used the private advice in W’s final EHC Plan. It only told her it would not reimburse her after she had paid for the advice. This was fault and meant Mrs X paid for the assessment when she likely would not have done so had the Council given her the necessary information to make an informed choice. I have therefore recommended the Council reimburse Mrs X.
26. I am pleased to see the Council is making efforts to improve how long it takes to do EHC assessments, as set out in paragraph 11. Because the Council has already taken suitable steps, I have not made a further recommendation.
27. As the Council has already taken steps to improve how it tells parents of its approach to private EP advice, as set out at paragraph 15 above, I have not recommended further action.

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Action

28. Within one month of the date of my final decision, the Council will reimburse Mrs X for the cost of the private Educational Psychologist advice.
29. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Decision

30. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman