Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council failed to ensure a child had suitable full-time education for four full school terms. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by offering to make a payment to remedy the injustice this caused.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains that the Council delayed issuing an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan for her daughter and that her daughter has been out of school since February 2022, without any alternative education provision in place.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share the final decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. During its complaint investigation, the Council accepted that it had delayed issuing a final EHC plan for Mrs X’s daughter and offered to make a payment to Mrs X of £300 to recognise the distress this caused.
7. The Council also accepted that it had failed to either provide sufficient support to try to reintegrate Mrs X’s daughter back to school or provide alternative education provision.
8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council delayed finalising her daughter’s ECH plan. This is because a final plan has now been issued and I consider that the Council has offered an appropriate financial offer to remedy this injustice caused by its delay.
9. However, if we were to Investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her daughter’s education provision since February 2022, it is likely we would find fault. Whilst the Council accepted it should have either provided reintegration support or alternative provision, it has not provided a remedy for the injustice cause by failing to do so.
10. Mrs X’s daughter has missed four full terms of school and has therefore gone without any education or SEN provision during this time. We therefore asked the Council to make a payment to Mrs X of £1500 for each of the four terms to remedy the injustice this caused.
11. To its credit, the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and has agreed with our recommendation. Therefore, within one month of the date of this final decision, it will write to Mrs X to offer to make a payment to her of £6000.

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Final decision

12. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing an appropriate remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman