West Sussex County Council (24 017 788)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 02-Apr-2025

Summary: We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in completing her child’s Education, Health and Care needs assessment. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to name a school on the Education, Health and Care plan. These decisions carry a right of appeal which it would be reasonable for Mrs X to use.

West Sussex County Council (24 003 266)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 28-Apr-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s handling of her daughter’s Education, Health and Care Plan in late 2022 and the lack of alternative provision since January 2023. We have found the Council was at fault for the delay in finalising Plans following reviews in October 2022 and March 2023. This caused Mrs X and S avoidable distress, uncertainty and loss of provision from section F of the Plan. The Council has already accepted some of the faults and apologised together with our further recommendations.

West Sussex County Council (24 014 306)

Statement Upheld Transport 22-May-2025

Summary: Ms B complained that the Council removed the funding for transporting her daughter, Miss C, to a day centre three times a week. We found the Council applied its transport policy with a blanket approach, without considering Miss C’s individual circumstances. The Council has agreed to fully explain the disability related expenditure process to Ms B, invite her to provide the necessary evidence then carry out a financial assessment taking into account Miss C’s full circumstances.

West Sussex County Council (24 010 360)

Statement Upheld Charging 26-May-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council provided misleading information about how it would treat a property her mother owned abroad when deciding whether she would need to contribute to the cost of her home care. We found delay and poor communication in completing the financial assessment which caused distress and the Council agreed to apologise and make a symbolic payment.

West Sussex County Council (24 004 910)

Statement Upheld Charging 04-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his late father’s care charges. He says the Council delayed in completing a financial reassessment and delayed in notifying his father of an increase in his care contributions, leading to a debt. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

West Sussex County Council (24 012 905)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 04-Jun-2025

Summary: We found fault on Mrs Y’s complaint against the Council through a service failure. It failed to issue the final Education, Health and Care plan for her daughter, Z, within statutory timescales. The Council issued it 40 weeks late. The delay caused Mrs Y avoidable injustice as she suffered uncertainty and frustration. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused.

West Sussex County Council (24 015 759)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 10-Jun-2025

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to deliver special educational provision on her son Y’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She also complained there was a failure to carry out an annual review. We upheld the complaint. The Council did not complete the annual review process between December 2023 and December 2024 and did not issue a decision letter giving rights of appeal. And, it did not secure all the special educational provision on Y’s Plan. This caused a loss of provision, a delay in appeal rights and avoidable distress. The Council will apologise and make payments to remedy the injustice.

West Sussex County Council (24 018 274)

Statement Upheld Charging 17-Jun-2025

Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council’s handling of a financial assessment for Ms X. The Council has agreed appropriate action to remedy the injustice caused.

West Sussex County Council (24 001 750)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 22-Jun-2025

Summary: Ms X complains about issues concerning her daughter Y’s education, including delays in the EHCP process, failure to provide suitable full-time education, and poor communication. We have concluded our investigation with a finding of fault. The Council delayed in finalising Y’s EHCP and failed to ensure suitable education was in place between November 2022 and May 2023. The Council has agreed to our recommendations.

West Sussex County Council (24 015 592)

Statement Upheld Charging 26-Jun-2025

Summary: Miss Y complained the Council wrongly assessed Mr X’s care contributions and sent a backdated invoice for day centre fees. Miss X says if the Council had completed its assessment correctly, Mr X would not have used the service. The Ombudsman finds the Council at fault, which caused Mr X and Miss Y avoidable and unnecessary distress and financial strain. The Council has agreed to waive the outstanding invoice.