The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delay in issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan for Ms X’s child. The Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy for the distress caused and this removes the need for us to investigate.
The complaint
Ms X complained that the Council failed to meet the statutory timescales for issuing an amended Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for her child following an emergency annual review. Ms X says the delay caused significant distress and uncertainty about her child’s provision.
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) 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 Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council held an emergency annual review for Ms X’s child. It decided to amend Ms X’s child’s EHC Plan.
If we were to investigate this complaint, it is likely we would find fault. This is because the Council should have issued a notice of amendment and final EHC Plan within 12 weeks of the emergency annual review meeting. The Council took around four months longer than it should have done to issue the final amended EHC Plan.
We do not consider the delay in issuing the final EHC Plan caused Ms X’s child to miss provision. This is because the provision in the previous and amended EHC Plans is broadly similar. But the delay caused distress and uncertainty to Ms X and her family.
The Council offered a payment of £125 to Ms X. We considered an increased payment would be more proportionate to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused. So, we invited the Council to make increased symbolic payment of £300 and to make a further apology to Ms X. The Council agreed to our proposal.
Agreed Action
The Council agreed to make a further apology to Ms X and an increased symbolic payment of £300 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty caused by the delay in issuing the final EHC Plan. The Council should take this action within one month of our final decision.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council agreed to provide a proportionate remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman