The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have upheld this complaint because there have been delays completing reviews of a child’s Education Health and Care Plan for the last two years. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to the complainant.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about delays completing the reviews of her daughter’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for the last two years.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find fault. This is because the Council has delayed issuing final EHC plans after annual reviews held in 2022 & 2023. This has caused an injustice to Mrs X in the form of frustration.
We therefore asked to the Council to consider remedying this injustice by writing to Mrs X, within one month of the date of this decision, to apologise for the delays and to offer to make a payment to her of £300 to remedy this injustice this caused. To its credit, the Council has agreed to complete these actions.
Final decision
We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman