Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council delayed making educational provision for the complainant’s son. This is because investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains that the Council delayed making interim educational provision for her son.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 would not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s son has an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan. The EHC plan was the subject of an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) which concluded in May 2024.
6. Mrs X complains, and the Council accepts, that the Council failed to implement the Tribunal order, in that it failed to make interim provision within the appropriate timescale. The complaint correspondence shows that Mrs X’s son missed three weeks of provision.
7. In recognition of the delay, the Council has offered to make a symbolic payment of £600. Mrs X does not regard this as acceptable. She says it would have cost the Council more than this to make the provision.
8. Where complaints have been upheld, the Ombudsman will not normally reconsider the matter. It is not a good use of public money to do so. There is no requirement for symbolic payments to be based on the monetary value of lost provision. In this case, the symbolic payment is in line with what the Ombudsman would be likely to recommend in the circumstances of the case. Investigation would not therefore lead to a different outcome and is not warranted.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman