Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mrs X’s application for an Education, Health and Care Plan and its failure to provide tuition or suitable educational provision for him while he was out of school. Part of the complaint is late and the Council has accepted fault and offered a suitable remedy for the impact of its failures in respect of the more recent issues.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council delayed in completing her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and issuing him an EHC Plan between August 2023 and January 2024. She also complains the Council failed to put in place suitable tuition for her son between January and May 2024 and did not provide him with suitable education while he was absent from school between November 2022 and December 2023.
2. Mrs X also complains about delay by the Council in dealing with her complaint between January and August 2025.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the lack of educational provision provided to her son between November 2022 and December 2023. This is because the complaint relates to a period which is significantly more than 12 months before Mrs X brought her complaint to us.
9. While I consider there are grounds to exercise our discretion to look back at the Council’s actions more than 12 months prior to Mrs X’s complaint to us, I consider a reasonable starting point to be January 2024. This takes into account the Council’s delay in dealing with Mrs X’s complaint and the difficulties Mrs X says she has suffered as a result of its alleged failures. I do not find any good reason to look back further.
10. The Council has accepted delay in dealing with Mrs X’s application for an EHC Plan between August 2023 and January 2024 and while this occurred before the period I have considered, I am satisfied its remedy for the delay is sufficient. The Council has offered Mrs X £250 and this is broadly in line with our Guidance on Remedies and our approach in similar cases. It is therefore unlikely further investigation would achieve significantly more for Mrs X in any event.
11. The Council has also accepted fault in failing to put in place suitable educational provision for Mrs X’s son between January and May 2024. It has explained the reasons for the delay and offered Mrs X £1,500 for the missed provision, along with £500 for the anxiety caused to her son. Again, this remedy is broadly in line with our Guidance on Remedies and the remedies we have recommended in other similar cases. I am therefore satisfied the remedy is sufficient and that it is unlikely we would recommend significantly more.
12. While I appreciate Mrs X believes the Council should provide further compensation for her loss of earnings it is not for us to say the Council must provide this.
13. The Council has also offered Mrs X £300 for the delays in dealing with her complaint and this provides a suitable remedy for this issue.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has provided suitable remedies for its failures and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve significantly more for Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman