Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delay by the Council in deciding whether to assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because the delay did not cause a personal injustice significant enough to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complained about delay by the Council in deciding whether to assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Mrs X says the Council failed to meet the six-week timescale in the SEN Code of Practice and provided contradictory explanations for the delay. Mrs X says the delay caused distress and uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Once Mrs X asked the Council to assess her child for an EHC Plan it had six weeks to issue a decision. The Council failed to meet this deadline. The Council should have issued a decision by 05 October 2025, but its decision-making group did not meet until 21 October. The Council then refused Mrs X’s request. The Council accepted delay in its complaint responses. These referred to technical errors and issues with its systems.
6. While the delay will have been frustrating for Mrs X, we will not start an investigation into her complaint. This is because the delay did not cause a personal injustice significant enough to warrant our involvement. We only investigate the most serious cases and the delay here is not significant enough to warrant out involvement. Any possible inconsistencies in the Council’s responses do not affect this decision.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has not been caused a significant personal injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman