Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about payments for special educational needs provisions. Part of the complaint is late, and the Council has offered a suitable remedy for the rest of the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains on behalf of her son, Y. Mrs X says the Council did not complete actions from Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan annual reviews held in June 2023 and 2024.
2. Mrs X complains the Council has refused to refund her for money she privately spent on Y’s tuition in Spring and Summer 2024, while waiting for the Council to carry out the EHC Plan actions.
3. Mrs X also complains the Council delayed paying Y’s personal budget instalments in 2025.
4. Mrs X says the Council’s actions negatively impacted Y’s mental health and cost the family financially. Mrs X wants the Council to reimburse her.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
6. 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)
7. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

10. Mrs X complained to us in December 2025, and I have seen no good reason she could not have brought the complaint to us sooner. So, the restriction in paragraph six applies, and we will not investigate the parts of the complaints in paragraphs one and two.
11. The Council should have paid Y’s personal budget in monthly instalments between January and May 2025. Mrs X complained to the Council after the Council failed to pay the first two instalments, and says she had to use her savings to cover costs.
12. The Council has apologised to Mrs X for the personal budget payment delays, arranged payment and offered a remedy which is in line with our guidelines. This removes the need for us to investigate the delay.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because part of it is late, and the Council has already offered a suitable remedy for the parts of the complaint we could investigate.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman