Surrey County Council (24 010 959)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: Miss B complained the Council’s Education, Health and Care Plan process failed her son, X. Miss B says X has been placed in an unsuitable placement and is receiving little to no education. We found the Council at fault for a delay in issuing a final Education, Health and Care Plan following an annual review and failing to consider its section 42 duty once it was aware X was not attending school. This has caused distress, frustration and uncertainty to Miss B and X. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a symbolic payment and complete service improvements to remedy the injustice caused.

Darlington Borough Council (24 012 327)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: There is no fault in the Council’s decision not to provide alternative education when Ms M withdrew her son B from school. In any event, Ms M had a right of appeal to the Tribunal. The Council has taken too long to amend B’s EHC Plan, but the Council has already offered a suitable remedy for the impact of the delay.

Derbyshire County Council (24 014 493)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide an adequate remedy for their complaint about its failure to ensure their child Y was receiving social care provision in her Education Health and Care Plan. They also complained about the way the Council dealt with their complaint. We found fault causing avoidable distress, frustration, time and trouble and a loss of social care support to which Y was entitled. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice and will provide the following: an apology, payments and evidence the Council has implemented changes to its services to minimise the risk of recurrence.

Kent County Council (24 002 131)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council failed to deliver education to her daughter while she could not attend school. We have found that the Council was at fault, because it did not consider making alternative arrangements for Mrs X’s daughter, who lost education as a result. The Council has already offered a suitable remedy, so we have not recommended that it take further action.

Hertfordshire County Council (24 021 827)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council managed the process of amending her child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because we could not add to the Council’s investigation or achieve a different outcome.

London Borough of Ealing (24 021 896)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Education, Health and Care Plan process. The complaint is late, and Mr X appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). This places the complaint outside our jurisdiction.

Westmorland and Furness Council (24 023 383)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan and its failure to arrange alternative provision between 2017 and March 2024. This is because the complaint is late. Ms X’s complaint about matters from March 2024 onwards is premature.

Suffolk County Council (25 001 625)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 27-May-2025

Summary: We upheld Mrs X’s complaint about delays in the Education, Health and Care needs assessment process because the Council upheld the complaint and apologised. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about an Educational Psychology report because Mrs X appealed to a Tribunal.

Somerset Council (24 014 885)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 26-May-2025

Summary: The Council has agreed it missed the statutory target date to complete the annual review of a young person’s education, health and care plan, and that its standard of communication with his mother was inadequate. We consider these faults have caused injustice, and the Council has now agreed to offer a financial remedy to reflect this.

Lancashire County Council (24 022 006)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 23-May-2025

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to ensure that the complainant’s son has had access to appropriate educational provision and unlawfully declined to carry out an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment for him. The complaint concerns matters which were the responsibility of a school, or about which Miss X used her right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).