The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have ended this investigation. Mrs X complained the Council had not issued her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council has now issued Y’s final EHC Plan and has already put an implementation plan in place. There was nothing worthwhile we could achieve by investigating further.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council delayed issuing her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan in line with the statutory timescales and she wanted to ensure Y received the educational provision they needed. Mrs X also complained about poor Council complaints handling. Mrs X said she wanted Y’s Educational psychology (EP) assessment to be finalised and Y’s EHC Plan to be issued.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
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 SEND Tribunal or the council can do this. Section I sets out the name and/or type of school, section F sets out the special educational provision needed by the child or young person.
As part of the EHC needs assessment councils must gather advice from relevant professionals (SEND 2014 Regulations, Regulation 6(1)). This includes advice and information from an Educational Psychologist (EP). Those consulted have six weeks to provide the advice.
The Council has a two stage complaints process. The Council’s complaint policy said it would respond to stage one complaints within 15 working days and stage two complaints within 10 working days.
What happened Y is of primary school age and has special educational needs including autism. Y attended a mainstream primary school, School 1.
In mid-2025 School 1 asked the Council to carry out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for Y. Approximately three weeks later the Council agreed to assess Y and complete an EHC needs assessment.
The Council sent letters to professionals asking for an assessment report. The Council quickly received reports back from speech and language therapy and received health advice. However, there was a delay from the educational psychology (EP) service.
In autumn 2025 Mrs X complained to the Council about the delay in Y’s EHC Plan process and the delayed EP report. She said there was a breach of the statutory timescale. The Council responded five working days later and apologised for the delay in receiving EP advice. It said it had unsuccessfully tried to recruit additional staff because of a national shortage of EPs. It said it was working with its EP service to prioritise outstanding assessments.
Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage two of the Councils complaints process and the Council responded six weeks later. The Council apologised for its delayed stage two response and for the ongoing delay in receiving EP advice. It said it was still working with its EP service but it could not provide a timescale for when an EP would review Y. Mrs X remained unhappy and complained to us.
In early 2026 the Council received Y’s EP report and quickly issued Y’s Final EHC Plan in early spring 2026, naming School 1 in section I.
The Council has a special educational needs implementation plan in place which said it would monitor waiting times for assessments and aimed to reduce waiting times. A key outcome was for most EHC needs assessments to be completed and plans issued within statutory timescales.
My findings
The Ombudsman is aware there is a national shortage of public and private EPs. The Council has an implementation plan in place to complete EHC needs assessments within statutory timescales. The Council has now issued Y’s Final EHC Plan and did so as soon as it could after it received the EP report. There was nothing more I could achieve by investigating further.
Mrs X was also unhappy about the Council’s delay in responding to her complaint. I have not investigated this matter further because there was no delay with the Council’s stage one response and the Council has already apologised for the short delay in issuing its stage two response and I could not achieve anything further.
Decision I have ended this investigation. The Council has now issued Y’s EHC Plan, has an implementation plan in place and there was nothing I could achieve by investigating further.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman