The Council agreed to review how it manages and monitors the Education Health and Care process to ensure it complies with the statutory timescales.The Council agreed to remind relevant staff that they should act on reports, from parents, of children being our of school and missed education to ensure it properly considers its duties to arrange alternative education.The Council agreed to review how it records and monitors the advice it requests during Education Health and Care assessments. It should ensure it has adequate processes to make sure it receives the advice it needs before making Education Health and Care plans.

establish a mechanism to identify any annual reviews that are outstanding and take prompt action to seek to resolve any such cases. The Council should report back on this, including how it intends to monitor this mechanism;send a reminder to relevant staff on the circumstances where children and young people with EHC Plans should be offered an independent advocate;circulate a reminder to relevant staff that within four weeks of a review meeting, the Council must notify the child’s parent of its decision to maintain, amend or cease the EHC Plan. When the Council decides to end an EHC plan, it must continue to maintain the EHC plan until the time has passed for bringing an appeal or, when an appeal has been registered, until it has been concluded;circulate a reminder to relevant staff members that complaints received by a Council department should be treated as such and be put through the Council’s complaints processshare this decision with relevant staff members.

The Council was at fault for failures in its special educational needs department which led to delay in making decisions regarding the provision of tuition. The Council says it has carried out a review of the department since then. It has agreed to write to the Ombudsman and to provide evidence of the changes made and to explain how this would prevent a repetition of the errors that led to the finding of fault.