The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have upheld this complaint about the Council’s failure to complete an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment for Miss X’s child within the statutory timescale. The Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy and this removes the need for us to investigate.
The complaint
Miss X complains about delay in the Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan process. She says the Council has failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice.
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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X applied for an EHC Plan for her child on 11 October 2024. The Council should have completed the assessment process and told Miss X if it intended to issue a plan within 16 weeks of the initial request, by 31 January 2025. If the Council decided to issue an EHC Plan it should have done so by 28 February 2025. The Council completed the process on 2 February 2026 and has attributed the delay in part to the lack of educational psychology resource.
We are satisfied that the Council has a plan in place to address the lack of specialist advice in the longer term. In response to our findings in a previous case, it sent us an action plan of its service improvements.
We do however accept the Council’s delays caused Miss X and her child frustration and uncertainty and that this injustice remains unremedied. Therefore we invited the Council to provide a remedy to Miss X and the Council has agreed to our proposal.
Agreed Action
The Council has agreed to the following actions to remedy the complaint: Pay Miss X £100 for each month of delay – a total of £1,100.
Make the payment within four weeks of my decision.
I consider the remedy agreed by the Council is suitable and that it is taking steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve anything more for Miss X.
Final decision
We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a proportionate remedy to the injustice caused to Miss X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman