Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council’s failure to complete an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for Mrs X’s child within the statutory timescale. The Council has agreed to provide a suitable remedy, and this removes the need for us to investigate.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about delay in the Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan process. She says the Council has failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice.

Back to top

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 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

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

Back to top

My assessment

6. Mrs X applied for an EHC Plan for her child on 6 March 2025. The Council should have completed the assessment process and issued the final EHC Plan by 24 July 2025. The Council completed the process on 27 April 2026 and has attributed the delay in part to the lack of educational psychology resource.
7. We are satisfied that the Council has a plan in place to address the lack of specialist advice. In response to our findings in a previous case, it sent us an action plan of its service improvements.
8. We do however accept the Council’s delays caused Mrs X and her child frustration and uncertainty and that this injustice remains unremedied. We have therefore invited the Council to provide a remedy to Mrs X. The Council has agreed to our proposal.

Back to top

Agreed action

9. The Council has agreed to the following actions to remedy the complaint:
• Apologise to Mrs X for the delay in the EHC Plan process;
• Pay Mrs X £100 for each month of delay- a total of £900.
10. The Council should make this payment within six weeks of today’s date, by 6 October 2026.
11. I consider the remedy agreed by the Council is suitable and that it is taking steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve anything more for Mrs X.
12. I appreciate Mrs X has gone to considerable expense to commission private reports, but we cannot say the Council must reimburse her for these expenses. The Council made clear it would not reimburse the cost of private reports, and it is responsible for commissioning any reports it considers necessary. We cannot be sure the Council would have named Mrs X’s preferred school, had it completed the process sooner.

Back to top

Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has agreed a suitable remedy for the injustice caused by its delay.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman