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

The complaint

1. Ms 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. Ms X says this has caused distress and delay.

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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. 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 s34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms 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).

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My assessment

6. Ms X applied for an EHC Plan for her child on 12 March 2025. The Council refused the EHC needs assessment, so Ms X went to mediation to challenge this decision. The Council agreed to assess on 23 June 2026. The Council should have issued the EHC Plan no more than 14 weeks after it made its assessment decision (by 29 September 2025). The EHC Plan was issued on 5 August 2026. It is therefore 10 months late. The Council explained there was a delay in issuing the EHC Plan due to the lack of educational psychology resource.
7. If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find the Council at fault because the delay in assessing education, health and care need due to the lack of specialist advice amounts to service failure.
8. We are satisfied 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.
9. We do, however, accept the Council’s delays caused Ms X and her child frustration and uncertainty and that this injustice remains unremedied. We have therefore invited the Council to provide a remedy to Ms X, and the Council, to its credit, has agreed to our proposal.

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Agreed action

10. The Council has agreed to the following actions to remedy the complaint:
• Pay Ms X £100 for each month of delay after the decision to assess was made – a total of £1000.
• Apologise to Ms X for the delay.
11. The Council will make this payment of £1000 within four weeks of my final decision.
12. 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 Ms X.

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Final decision

13. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a proportionate remedy to the injustice caused to Ms X and her child.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman