Summary
Miss X complained about the length of time taken to complete an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment and issue an EHC Plan for her daughter.
Miss X also complained the Council has refused to provide an Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) package for her daughter and is wrongly trying to force her into a school setting. Her daughter has been unable to access education in a school setting for several years and has not received a suitable education.
Finding
Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.
Recommendations
The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended) To remedy the injustice caused, we recommend within three months of the date of this report the Council: apologise to Miss X and Y for the delays in the EHC process and in issuing a final EHC Plan. And for the failure to provide alternative educational provision between March 2022 and September 2023. We published guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology we have recommended; pay £8,000 to the family to acknowledge the impact of the loss of education on Y between March 2022 and September 2023; and pay £300 to Miss X to recognise the distress and anxiety she experienced and the time and trouble she was put to as a result of the Council’s failings.
As the Council’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) service is subject to external scrutiny and intervention and a further improvement plan is to be developed following a recent Ofsted inspection, we have not made further service improvement recommendations. Our future investigations will provide important evidence of whether the further changes the Council makes improve special educational needs and/or disabilities services for local people.
The Council has accepted our recommendations to remedy the complaint.
Ombudsman satisfied with Council's response: 11 July 2024.