Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to properly deal with a complaint about an Education Health and Care Plan and education provision for Ms X’s child. This is because the Council has agreed to conclude its complaint handling in line with our recommendations and further investigation at this stage would not be proportionate.

The complaint

1. Ms X said the Council had failed to meet statutory deadlines relating to her son (Y)’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. She also said it had not done enough to ensure Y had suitable education while they were not at school.
2. Ms X said the Council had failed to consider her complaint about these matters in line with its complaint handling procedures and this caused her distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
7. I have only considered how the Council handled Ms X’s complaint. I have not considered the substantive issues Ms X has complained to us about.

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My assessment

8. Ms X raised her initial complaint with the Council in mid-June 2025. The Council’s corporate complaints procedure states the Council should provide a response within 28 calendar days. Ms X raised additional concerns with the Council in May 2026. The Council acknowledged the delays and said it would provide a response to Ms X by 4 August 2026.
9. We wrote to the Council saying if we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Ms X an injustice, because of delays in the Council handling her complaint about the substantive matter.

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Agreed action

10. We agreed with the Council it would finalise its stage one complaint reply to Ms X’s complaint, by 4 August 2026. And at that point it would notify Ms X of her right to escalate her complaint to the second stage of the Council’s complaint procedures if necessary.
11. To the Council’s credit it agreed to resolve this part of Ms X’s complaint, and it is then open to Ms X to complain to us if she remains unhappy with the Council’s final response to the substantive matters she is complaining about.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we have upheld a complaint about complaint handling fault and the Council has agreed to provide a response by a set date.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman