Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delays to an Education, Health, and Care needs assessment. The Council has acknowledged the delays and made a suitable offer of a financial remedy to address the injustice caused by the delay.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council delayed obtaining a report from an Educational Psychologist (EP), which he says will delay the Council’s decision on his request for an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan, for his child. Mr X said delays will impact on his child’s education.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. In April 2024, Mr X asked the Council to carry out an EHC needs assessment for his child. In late May, he complained, because the Council had not yet allocated his child’s case to an EP. The Council replied to Mr X and apologised for the delays, which it said were caused by a national shortage of EP’s.
6. The Council also highlighted it may not complete Mr X’s child’s EHC needs assessment within the statutory timescales. It proposed a financial remedy for each month the EHC needs assessment was delayed outside the timescale.
7. Because the Council’s offer of a financial remedy is within our guidelines and because it has already told us about what actions it is taking to improve its service here, we do not need to investigate this matter further.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are satisfied with the action the Council proposes to take in response to his complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman