Devon County Council (24 013 168)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council failing to issue her child’s final education, health, and care plan within the statutory timescales. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council failed to issue her child’s final education, health, and care (EHC) plan within the statutory timescales.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In May 2024, the Council started an EHC needs assessment of Mrs X’s child.
- If we were to investigate, it is likely we would find fault causing Mrs X an injustice. This is because the Council was supposed to issue the final EHC plan by the end of August 2024. However, the Council did not issue it until mid-December 2024. This is a delay of just over three months. I am satisfied the delay will have caused some distress and uncertainty.
- We therefore asked the Council to remedy this by completing the following:
- Apologise to Mrs X for the delay in issuing the final EHC plan.
- Make a payment of £300 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused by the delay.
Agreed action
- The Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within four weeks of the final decision.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman