The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Miss X complains the Council has not carried out any annual reviews for her Education, Health and Care Plan for five years. Miss X says this has caused her distress and meant she has not been able to access education. We have found fault in the Councils actions for failing to complete an annual review and failing to provide Miss X with education. The Council has agreed to write to Miss X to issue an apology, pay her a symbolic payment and complete service improvements.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council has not carried out any annual reviews for her Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for five years.
Miss X says this has caused her distress and meant she has not been able to access education.
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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended) If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(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).
What I have and have not investigated I have not considered Miss X’s complaint prior to September 2024. This is because anything before then is a late complaint. I cannot see any reason Miss X could not have brought her complaint sooner.
How I considered this complaint
I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
Miss X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.
What I found
Law and guidance Education, Health and Care Plans A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the Tribunal or the council can do this.
The council has a duty to make sure the child or young person receives the special educational provision set out in section F of an EHC Plan (Section 42 Children and Families Act). The Courts have said the duty to arrange this provision is owed personally to the child and is non-delegable. This means if the council asks another organisation to make the provision and that organisation fails to do so, the council remains liable (R v London Borough of Harrow ex parte M [1997] ELR 62), (R v North Tyneside Borough Council [2010] EWCA Civ 135) The council must arrange for the EHC Plan to be reviewed at least once a year to make sure it is up to date. The council must complete the review within 12 months of the first EHC Plan and within 12 months of any later reviews. The annual review begins with consulting the child’s parents or the young person and the educational placement. A review meeting must then take place. The process is only complete when the council issues its decision to amend, maintain or discontinue the EHC Plan. This must happen within four weeks of the meeting. (Section 20(10) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN Code paragraph 9.176) Where the council proposes to amend an EHC Plan, the law says it must send the child’s parent or the young person a copy of the existing (non-amended) Plan and an accompanying notice providing details of the proposed amendments, including copies of any evidence to support the proposed changes. (Section 22(2) Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 and SEN Code paragraph 9.194). Case law sets out this should happen within four weeks of the date of the review meeting. Case law also found councils must issue the final amended EHC Plan within a further eight weeks.
There is a right of appeal to the Tribunal against the description of a child or young person’s special educational needs (SEN) (Section B), the special educational provision specified (Section F), the school or placement (Section I) or that no school or other placement is specified and amendments to these elements of an EHC Plan.
What happened The Council issued an EHC Plan for Miss X in 2021 and says records indicate that tuition was placed on hold in March 2022.
The Council re-allocated Miss X’s case to a new case worker in May 2025 which prompted contact with Miss X.
Miss X contacted the Council in August 2025 to chase an update with what was happening with her annual reviews and EHC Plan.
Miss X raised a complaint in mid-September 2025 and said the Council had completed a review earlier in the year but had not done so for the previous five years. Miss X complained she had asked for an update but had been referred to adult social care.
The Council responded the following day and acknowledged annual reviews had not taken place every year as expected but hope the most recent review had addressed any concerns. The Council encouraged Miss X to engage with her case worker if she planned to stay in education.
Miss X raised a stage two complaint several days later and said the Council had accepted reviews had not taken place but wrongly assumed this was addressed by the recent review. Miss X says the case worker confirmed their recent meeting was not an annual review. Miss X said she had been left with no education or social care planning at a critical stage in her life. Miss X told the Council her mental health had worsened and requested compensation for the lost opportunities.
The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint and said it confirmed it had no records of annual reviews and noted the case officer met Miss X in September 2025 and had set up regular follow up meetings. The Council offered to complete an annual review.
The Council held Miss X’s review in December 2025.
The Council wrote to Miss X in mid-December 2025 and said following the annual review it planned to make changes to her EHC Plan.
The Council issued a final EHC Plan in mid-January 2026 which provided Miss X with an EOTAS package which should include a minimum of 2 hours per fortnight of Maths and English functional skills. The plan also says delivery of written and practical information required to obtain Level One Horse Care Qualification should be provided.
Analysis The Council has accepted it did not complete an annual review for Miss X between 2021 and 2025. This is fault and has caused Miss X distress and frustration.
The Council has also said it placed Miss X’s tuition on hold in 2022, and Miss X says she did not receive any further provision until her most recent EHC Plan was issued. This is fault and has caused Miss X distress and to miss out on education.
The Council has explained that the tuition was put on hold due to lack of response but accepts it should have continued to communicate with Miss X to complete any annual reviews as her plan remained open.
I understand Miss X is now completing some form of education.
Action
Within four weeks of a final decision the Council should: Write to Miss X to apologise for the distress caused by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
Pay Miss X £4,000 to recognise the missed education between September 2024 and January 2026.
Advise the Ombudsman of what steps it has taken to ensure annual reviews are completed in a timely manner and cases are not left unsupervised for extended periods.
The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.
Decision I find fault causing injustice.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman