The Council agreed to issue reminders to all staff in its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service that:when a child with an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan moves from a different council’s area, the Council must let the family know within 6 weeks of transfer whether it will carry out an EHC needs assessment, or when it will review the plan. It also must review the plan within 3 months, or within 12 months of the previous review by the old council, whichever is later; andany final EHC plan issued must be shared with the family, along with their rights to appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (SEND).The Council agreed to review its processes and procedures, and issue reminders to relevant staff, to ensure that where it is aware a child is being educated part-time, it keeps the suitability of this arrangement under regular reviewThe Council agreed to ensure a copy of our final decision is considered as part of its ongoing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Improvement Strategy, following its Independent SEND Review. The Council commissioned this independent review in 2021 to address issues with its SEND services and is monitoring progress against the actions it identified.

The Council has agreed to carrying out training of its Special Educational Needs and Disability staff in the following areas:statutory timeframes for progressing through the stages of annual reviews;its duty to finalise Education, Health and Care plans within statutory timeframes following annual reviews;the importance of annual review notes and draft, amended Education, Health and Care plans making clear what amendments are proposed and not referring the reader instead to separate documents;its duty to prepare its young people for adulthood in all Education, Health and Care plan annual reviews from year 9 onwards;its duty to review Education, Health and Care plans every 12 months, regardless of whether there is an ongoing appeal to the Special Education Needs and Disability Tribunal;the Council's non-delegable duty to secure the provision set out in section F of Education, Health and Care plans; andthe importance of seeking records regarding the amount of provision missed by a child or young person, once the Council becomes aware that the provision is not being delivered.

The Council will review any how it can limit any delays to the Education, Health, and Care plan process, including steps which may be outside its control such as advice from professionals. It will also remind staff responsible for progressing and overseeing the process to adhere to the statutory timescales.The Council will remind staff and managers responsible for responding to complaints to ensure it responds to complaints within the timescales set out in its Complaints Policy, and to keep complainants informed if there are delays in the process.

The Council has agreed to share the final decision with all members of the SEN team with a reminder of the obligation to consult with the parental preference, issue EHCPs at the correct time and provide regular updates to parentsThe Council will also reflect on the issues raised in the decision statement and identify any areas of service improvement, particularly around communication with parents, delay in the EHCP process and consultation procedure. The Council will prepare a short report setting out what it has done/intends to do to ensure similar problems do not reoccur. This report should be sent to the Ombudsman.

The Council will review its process for allocating medical tuition to ensure it is compliant with the law and recently issued statutory guidance, that it has a plan to address gaps in capacity of tutors and that it retains oversight of provision while a child is out of school.

The Council agreed to issue reminders to all relevant staff who manage its Education, Health, and Care (EHC) plan processes, about:its statutory duty to properly consider and respond to requests from families for an EHC needs re-assessment; its statutory duty to properly consider and respond to requests from families for further professional advice to be sought as part of an EHC needs assessment or re-assessment; its statutory duty to carry out EHC plan reviews and EHC needs assessments or re-assessments within the required timescales; andthe importance of communicating properly with families and keeping them updated about any delays.The Council agreed to share a copy of our final decision with all staff who work in its Special Educational Needs and Disabilities service, and its complaints service. It will remind them of its duties under the Equality Act 2010, including the reasonable adjustment duty.The Council agreed to ensure a copy of our final decision is considered as part of its ongoing Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Improvement Strategy, following its Independent SEND Review. The Council commissioned this independent review in 2021 to address issues with its SEND services and is monitoring progress against the actions it identified.

The Council will ensure all the parents/young people requesting Personal Budget in Education Health and Care plans are provided at the beginning of the process with the information required by law and SEND Code of Practice 2015, including details of the organisations that provide advice and assistance on Personal Budgets and the right to apply for a review of the Council's decision. The Council will provide the evidence that this has been introduced as part of the process.

The Council will remind officers dealing with EHCPs of the need to comply with the timescales set down in the code of practice.The Council will remind officers dealing with children that need to move to a different school or type of school of the need to ensure consultations are undertaken promptly and concurrently rather than sequentially.The Council will provide evidence of the action the Council is taking to identify additional specialist school places.

The Council has agreed to review it procedures for deciding personal budget requests to prevent a recurrence of the delays we found. It will create an action plan explaining what it will do to achieve this.The Council has agreed to review its procedures for attending virtual Education, Health and Care plan review meetings to ensure there is not a recurrence of the IT issues we found. It will create an action plan explaining what it will do to achieve this.

The Council should provide suitable staff training or reminders to staff of its duties under law and guidance to provide alternative provision when a child of statutory school age is out of school for any reason. The Council should consider sharing a copy of our focus report “Out of school, out of sight?”.