Leeds City Council has been criticised for significant delays in making decisions about support for children with special educational needs. An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found delays by the Council in nearly eight out of 10 Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans even after specialist advice had been obtained.

The Ombudsman was asked to investigate a father’s complaint after the council took 72 weeks to produce his child’s EHC Plan – the document which sets out in law what additional support children must receive. Statutory guidance says it should take no more than 20 weeks.

During the period investigated by the Ombudsman, the council revealed it had issued 791 EHC Plans. The majority of those (614 or 78%) were issued more than 30 weeks after an educational psychologist’s advice was provided.

Julie Odams, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Chief Executive, said:

“We have previously raised the issue of how a national shortage of educational psychologists is adding to the delays many families face when councils are creating EHC Plans for their children and young adults.

“However, in Leeds we have found significant delays after this specialist advice has been received – with EHC Plans routinely taking a further seven months to finalise.

“These significant delays are clearly having a major impact on hundreds of families across the city.

“I hope the action plan the council has now agreed to put in place will allow it to get a firm grip on its systems for supporting children, young people and their families.”

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve local government and adult social care services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the father who brought the complaint to the Ombudsman. It will also pay him £1,000 to reflect the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay.

The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council has agreed to highlight current timescales on relevant webpages, so parents and carers are aware of potential delays.

It will also provide an action plan showing how it will improve its timeliness in issuing EHC Plans and improve its communication with families who are waiting for their plans.

Article date: 25 September 2025