Overview:

Key to names used

• Ms B The complainant
• Ms K Her daughter, a young person

Summary

As part of an earlier investigation, the Council agreed with us to provide speech and language therapy (SALT) for Ms B’s daughter, Ms K, in line with her Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. It also agreed to make ongoing payments and, if it could not provide SALT, to complete a fundamental review of the situation and share this with Ms B and us. Ms B complained that the Council failed to provide the remedy as agreed with us. Ms B says this caused her distress and frustration and meant that her daughter missed the SALT she was entitled to.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended)

We also recommend the Council should:

• apologise to Ms B and Ms K. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology we have recommended;
• pay Ms B £750 to recognise the distress and frustration it caused her; and
• review what went wrong in this case. It should use the findings of the review to put in place robust arrangements to ensure that actions it agrees to take as a result of Ombudsman recommendations are complied with, and that there is senior management oversight that this is being done. The outcome of the review and the steps to be put in place to prevent a recurrence should be reported to its Cabinet.

The Council has accepted these recommendations.

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