Suffolk County Council (23 005 778)

Report Upheld Special educational needs 04-Apr-2024

Summary: Miss X also complained the Council has refused to provide an Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) package for her daughter and is wrongly trying to force her into a school setting. Her daughter has been unable to access education in a school setting for several years and has not received a suitable education.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (23 017 715)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 02-Apr-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her child’s special educational needs and education, health, and care plan between 2017 and 2023. This is because her complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

Essex County Council (23 009 675)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 02-Apr-2024

Summary: Mrs D complained the Council failed to provide her daughter with a suitable education when she was not attending school. We find the Council was at fault for failing to deliver a suitable education. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

Derbyshire County Council (23 011 667)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 02-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council’s delay in carrying out an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment on her child Y who was receiving a part time education causing distress, uncertainty, and loss of education. The Council has accepted it was at fault and we have found there was service failure by the Council due to the delay in carrying out the needs assessment. The Council has already apologised to Ms X for the delay. It has offered her a payment for her time and trouble and distress caused. It has also offered a payment for the loss of education to Y during a term in 2022. We consider the Council’s offer is a suitable remedy in this case and so have completed our investigation.

Devon County Council (23 012 303)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 02-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complained the Council delayed completing her son, F’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment in line with statutory timescales. The Council was at fault. It failed to decide whether to issue F with an EHC Plan within the statutory timescale, caused by a delay in obtaining Educational Psychologist advice. This caused a further delay in the Council issuing F’s final EHC Plan and delayed Ms X’s right of appeal to the SEND tribunal. The Council agreed to make a payment to Ms X to acknowledge the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to her.

North Northamptonshire Council (23 003 369)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Special educational needs 01-Apr-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council failing to provide an education between March 2021 and February 2022. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.

Devon County Council (23 009 856)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 01-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complained the Council delayed issuing her son, F’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and failed to ensure he received a suitable full-time education between 2021 and 2023 when he spent periods of time on a part time timetable. The Council was at fault. It failed to decide whether to issue F with an EHC Plan within the statutory timescale, caused by a delay in obtaining Educational Psychologist advice. It then further delayed issuing F’s final Plan. It also failed to maintain proper oversight of F’s time spent on a part time timetable between January and July 2023. The Council agreed to make payments to Ms X to recognise the injustice caused and carry out a service improvement.

Coventry City Council (23 009 940)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 01-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide education for her child who was medically unfit to attend school. Ms X also complained the Council delayed in finalising her child’s Education and Health Care (EHC) Plan and failed to provide provision from the previous EHC Plan. We found fault with the Council failing to provide education for Ms X’s child for slightly over one and a half terms. We also found fault with the Council failing to provide provision from the EHC Plan for the same time. We also found the Council at fault for delays in finalising the EHC Plan. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, pay her £2,625 for the missed educational provision and £300 for the uncertainty and stress caused through the EHC Plan delays. The Council also agreed to provide training and guidance to its staff.

Kent County Council (23 010 490)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 01-Apr-2024

Summary: Ms D complained the Council has failed to provide her son with an education after the SEND Tribunal’s decision in June 2022. She also says the Council delayed responding to her complaint about the matter. We find the Council was at fault for failing to deliver the education and provision in Ms D’s son’s Education, Health and Care Plan. It also significantly delayed responding to Ms D’s complaint. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (23 013 228)

Statement Upheld Special educational needs 01-Apr-2024

Summary: Miss X complained about the content of her daughter Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, about how the Council reviewed the Plan, provided education and refused her request for a reassessment of Y’s needs. We found the Council delayed in completing the annual review of Y’s EHC Plan, and did not tell Miss X of her appeal rights against its decision not to reassess Y’s needs. The Council agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her £400 to recognise the frustration this caused her.