Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education, Health and Care plan process. This is because the Council has agreed to an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by the delay.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about delay in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) process. Ms X says the Council failed to meet the relevant timescales in the SEN Code of Practice. Ms X also complains about poor communication from the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended)
3. 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 has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
4. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council received Ms X’s request that it assess her child for an EHC Plan on 23 October 2023. The Council decided to issue an EHC Plan, and it should have done so by 11 March 2024 – week 20 of the process. The Council eventually issued a final EHC Plan on 28 October 2024 – thirty-three weeks late.
8. The Council has accepted it has taken longer than it should to complete the process due to a shortage of Educational Psychologists. This is service failure. This has caused Ms X frustration and distress.
9. The Council has previously assured the Ombudsman of the actions it is taking to address delays in the EHC Plan process. We are therefore satisfied the Council has a plan to address this issue.
10. In cases like this we consider a payment of £100 to be a suitable remedy for each four weeks of delay. We therefore asked the Council to remedy the injustice caused by making a payment to Ms X to resolve the complaint early. The Council has agreed to the following to remedy Ms X’s complaint.
• Pay £825 for the delay in issuing the final EHC Plan.
11. The Council should make the payment within four weeks of this decision.
12. Ms X also complained about poor communication from the Council. But it would not be a good use of our resources to investigate this as a standalone issue when we are not looking at the issue which led to the original complaint.
13. The Council has agreed a suitable remedy and is taking to steps to address the issue at the heart of this complaint. We will not therefore investigate.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has offered a suitable remedy for the identified injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman