Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s delay in making direct payments for her child’s educational provision. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council:

• did not make direct payments to cover the cost of Maths and English tuition for her child, Y from September 2024 to date.
• refused to cover the full costs for Y and their teacher to attend educational experiences outlined in Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
• did not investigate her complaint appropriately.

2. Mrs X says the delay caused her avoidable distress and uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. If there has been fault which caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended).
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
7. 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

8. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to cover the full cost for Y and their teacher to attend educational experiences outlined in Y’s EHC Plan.
11. The Council noted Y’s EHC Plan does not specify the experiences Y should attend or specifically include expenses and transport costs as part of Y’s funded provision.
12. Mrs X says Y’s EHC Plan notes Y’s teacher will decide and arrange Y’s educational experiences at their discretion. The Council has told Mrs X which experiences it will fund and it has explained why it will not fund others. The Council considers the EHC Plan does not require it to fund other expenses and transport costs. Mrs X has a different view. However, it is not within my remit to say how Y’s EHC Plan should be interpreted and applied.
13. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision making so I cannot question the merits of its decision. Any further disputes about the interpretation of wording in Y's EHCP is better suited for the court’s consideration.
14. Mrs X says the Council has not made direct payments to cover the cost of Y’s tuition since September 2024. Mrs X says tuition has continued but the delay has caused stress. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Mrs X injustice. This is because the Council did not ensure it made direct payments for tuition in good time, causing distress and uncertainty
15. I therefore asked the Council to take the following actions within one month of a final decision:

• Provide an apology to Mrs X. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology.
• Arrange payment for tuition from September 2024, if it has not done so already.
• Identify any reasons for the delay in payment, take action to prevent recurrence and, notify us of these actions.

16. To its credit, the Council has agreed to complete the above within one month of the final decision statement.
17. It would not be a good use of public money to investigate the Council’s complaint handling in isolation.

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Final decision

18. We have upheld Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s delay making direct payments for her child’s EHC Plan provision. The Council has agreed to resolve it by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman