The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of an Education, Health and Care Plan process. This is because the Council has apologised and has offered a suitable remedy, and it is unlikely further investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.
The complaint
Mr X complains about the Council’s handling of the Health and Care (EHC) Plan process. He says the Council has failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice. He also says his child, Y, did not have the support he needed and missed education as a result. He wants the Council to issue the EHC Plan.
The Ombudsman’s . and powers 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) 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: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X applied for an EHC Plan for his child on 19 July 2025. The Council should have completed the assessment process by 3 December 2025 but failed to do so. Mr X also says his child did not receive the support he was entitled to and was on a reduced timetable which did not meet his needs.
The Council issued Y’s final EHC plan on 2 February 2026. It apologised and accepted it did not meet the statutory timescales. It has also accepted the delay affected Y’s education, and he could only engage with education part-time since September 2025.
We cannot say what additional special educational provision Y would have received before the educational psychologist assessed his needs. However, there was delay after the Council received the advice and before it issued the final EHC Plan.
In recognition of its failure to complete the EHCNA within statutory timescales and Y’s loss of education, the Council has offered Mr X £550. This is broadly in line with our Guidance on Remedies. The Council has acknowledged fault, apologised and is taking steps to remedy the injustice caused to Mr X and his child. I consider these actions are a proportionate response to the injustice caused. It is unlikely further investigation would achieve significantly more for Mr X.
If we are not investigating the subject matter in a complaint, we will not usually investigate separately the way an organisation handles complaints and correspondence about it. This is because it does not usually cause significant enough extra injustice than the underlying matter to warrant it. That is the case here.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has apologised and offered a suitable remedy, and it is unlikely that further investigation would achieve anything more for Mr X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman