Summary: The Council investigated the complainants’ concern that it delayed in issuing their daughter’s Education, Health and Care Plan, after an annual review, Children Services did not attend this review and services were wrongly withdrawn. The Council accepted fault and provided redress to ensure the complainants’ daughter received services in accordance with her Plan. The Council also apologised and made a small symbolic payment. We are satisfied that this is sufficient remedy and therefore we are closing the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant and his wife, Mr and Mrs X, complained that the Council delayed:
1. in issuing an amended final Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for their daughter, Miss X, after the annual review of May 2023; and
2. failed and delayed making proper arrangements for Miss X’s transition to Adult Social Care.
2. As a result, Mr and Mrs X have been caused avoidable distress and frustration by having to pursue these complaints and Miss X has not been helped to develop her independent living skills, as required.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended).

Back to top

What I have and have not investigated

6. The Council investigated the complaints and accepted it had been at fault. The issue therefore was whether the Council had addressed Mr and Mrs X’s complaints properly, and whether the Council had considered the resulting injustice and provided an appropriate remedy.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

7. I considered Mr and Mrs X’s written complaint and I spoke to them on the telephone. I considered the Council ‘s response to my enquiries.
8. I issued a draft decision statement to the Council and to Mr and Mrs X. As part of Mr and Mrs X’s response to the draft decision, they said that they did not consider there had been a delay by Adult Service, which I had thought was part of their complaint to us (complaint b).
9. Instead, their main concern was that social workers from Children Services did not attend the annual review of May 2023 to discuss the outcomes and provision in their daughter’s EHC Plan, and they wrongly withdrew its services.
10. Therefore, I have not commented on Adult Services’ actions.

Back to top

What I found

Special educational needs

11. A child with special educational needs (SEN) may have an EHC Plan. This sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.
12. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. Section F of the plan is about the special educational provision needed by the child or the young person. Sections H and H1 set out the social care provision. Councils must provide the services set out in an EHC Plan.
13. The Children and Families Act 2014 enables councils to continue children’s services beyond age 18 and up to 25 for young people with EHC plans.

Annual reviews

14. Councils oversee delivery of EHC Plans through annual reviews, whether by attending meetings themselves, or by reviewing the school’s records of meetings. The Code says reviews must be undertaken in partnership with the child and their parent.
15. EHC Plans must be reviewed, as a minimum, every 12 months. The review must consider whether the stated outcomes and supporting targets remain appropriate. Earlier reviews can take place where it is considered a child’s needs may have changed or the stated outcomes are not being achieved.
16. After the review, the council has four weeks to send the child’s parents its decision about whether the EHC plan is to continue; whether it needs changing or if it is to end. If the council decides to amend the EHC plan it must do that “without delay”. A recent court case stated it should take 12 weeks from the annual review to complete an amended final EHC plan.

Key facts

17. I have included a summary of some of the key events in this complaint. This is not intended to be a comprehensive account of everything that took place because the Council has accepted fault.
18. Miss X has special educational needs and has an EHC Plan. She has a diagnosis of autism spectrum condition (ASC), along with other significant difficulties. Children Services classed Miss X as a child in need and there have been regular reviews.
19. In February 2023, a SEND Tribunal ordered for Miss X to receive weekly singing lessons and a weekly session with a mentoring service, Provider 1, to be arranged by social care.
20. A finalised EHC Plan was issued in mid-March 2023. However following comments from Mr X pertaining to discrepancies in the document, a further finalised EHC Plan was issued at the end of March 2023. We have already dealt with a complaint about this delay.
21. At section H1 of the final amended EHC Plan, the requirement was for Miss X to receive weekly singing sessions and a weekly session with a mentor from Provider 1. And at section H2, there was a requirement for Miss X to be referred to Adult Services for a care assessment, and for 45 minutes of dog training for Miss X’s support dog.
22. An annual review of Miss X’s EHC Plan was due in March 2023, but this did not take place until May 2023. At this review, Children Services said that it had discharged Miss X from its services, and they did not attend the review. Mr and Mrs X were concerned that Children Services officers were not there because this meant they could not discuss the provision and outcomes.
23. In June 2023, the Council agreed to amend the EHC Plan.
24. In July 2023, Mr X complained to the Council that there was no provision as required in section H1, H2 of Miss X’s EHC Plan. Broadly, he asked for:
1. an apology to Miss X;
2. an investigation into why these failings had occurred;
3. for Children Services to provide the required provision which had been missing for the past four months; and
4. all staff in Children Services to be provided with training in SEN process.
25. In July 2023, the Council allocated a social worker from Children Services. In August, the Council says that the parents asked for the care assessment for transition to Adult Services to be delayed because Miss X had started on some new medication.
26. In early October 2023, the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint. The Council accepted that there had been failings and apologised, offering £250 to Miss X and £100 for Mr X’s time and trouble. Later that month, the Council wrote again in response to a further query from Mr X, providing an explanation about what had gone wrong.
27. The Council says it was regrettable that Children Services did not attend the review of May 2023, but it has apologised for this and made a symbolic payment.
28. Miss X became eighteen in early 2024. In February, the Council issued a draft EHC Plan, and a final was issued in April 2024. Mr and Mrs X now have the right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal, if dissatisfied with the final EHC Plan.
29. Mr and Mrs X say that, if the EHC Plan had been issued sooner, they would have used the mediation scheme first if they had concerns about the content or named provision. They also consider that there would have been better preparation for Miss X in respect of her independent living skills.
30. As a result of Mr X’s complaint, the Council says that Children Services continued to provide services to the end of March 2024. That was to make up for the earlier lost provision. The Council says that, despite the accepted errors in 2023, Miss X has not missed out on the required provision as set out H1 and H2 of her EHC Plan. Children Services agreed to provide the weekly singing lessons, the weekly dog training, and provision from Provider 1.
31. The Council has also implemented numerous service improvements, in particular ensuring that relevant social care staff are trained in the SEND process, and there was a training event, which Mr X attended, for staff from Early Help and SEND staff.
32. In addition, there is a wider review of Children Services, with an emphasis on how the Council work with children with additional needs and their families. Staff working in the transition to Adult Services have also been told to be clear whether the young person wants this, and what support might be required, to try to avoid delays in care assessments.
33. The impact of the Council’s service improvements is being monitored and measured through an audit process.

Findings

34. The Council has accepted that it delayed in issuing a final EHC Plan after the May 2023 annual review. It should have been issued around September 2023, but was not issued until April 2024, some seven months later. This amounts to fault and will have caused avoidable frustration.
35. The Council also says that it is regrettable Children Services did not attend the annual review of May 2023. But, once the Council was aware of what had happened, the Council agreed to reinstate the social care provision required and this continued after Miss X became 18.
36. The Council has also apologised to Mr and Mrs X and offered Miss X £250 for her injustice and £100 for Mr X’s time and trouble.
37. We have published guidance to explain how we recommend remedies for people who have suffered injustice as a result of fault by a council. Our primary aim is to put people back in the position they would have been in if the fault by the council had not occurred.
38. When this is not possible, we may recommend the council makes a symbolic payment. Where that takes the form of a payment, it is often a modest amount whose value is intended to be largely symbolic rather than purely financial. We also support organisational learning and improvements to help others.
39. I recognise Mr X may consider the remedy offered by the Council is insufficient. But I am not recommending a further remedy because the Council readily accepted its faults (prior to Mr X referring the complaint to us), it reinstated Miss X’s Children Services provision and apologised to the complainants for the faults, also offering a symbolic payment for the injustice.
40. Also, we welcome councils’ efforts to learn from complaints about its services. In this case, I am satisfied the Council has shown a willingness to do this and to take action to improve services, particularly ensuring that Children Services have appropriate training about the SEND process. While this is of no direct benefit to the complainants, it will be to the benefit for young people with additional needs, and their families, in the future.

Back to top

Final decision

41. I am satisfied that the Council has acknowledged its faults, provided an appropriate remedy and implemented service improvements. Therefore, I am closing the complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman