Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to complete an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child within the legal timescales. This is because the Council has already offered a suitable remedy for any injustice caused by the delay and further investigation by us is unlikely to achieve anything more.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed carrying out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child, Y. She said this has delayed Y being able to attend full time education and has caused distress and financial difficulties for the whole family.
2. Ms X also complained Y’s school failed to meet their needs and this resulted in their exclusion from school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
4. 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)

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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.
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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My assessment

8. In April 2024, Ms X asked the Council to complete an EHC needs assessment for her child, Y. The Council agreed it would do this.
9. In September 2024, Ms X complained to the Council because it had still not completed the assessment.
10. The Council accepted it had not completed the assessment within the legal timescales and said this was because of difficulty in arranging an Educational Psychologist (EP) assessment due to national shortages of EPs. It upheld her complaint and said, after it completed the assessment, it would pay her £100 for each month the legal timescales had passed.
11. Ms X disagreed with the Council’s offer of £100 for each month of delay in completing the assessment and complained to us.
12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about delays to the EHC needs assessment because the Council has upheld her complaint and already offered a suitable remedy for any injustice caused by the delay. Further investigation by us would therefore not be proportionate.
13. We are satisfied the Council is taking action to deal with the issues caused by a lack of EPs. In response to our findings in a previous case, it sent us an action plan of its service improvements. Therefore, further investigation by us into this matter would be unlikely to achieve anything more.
14. Finally, we cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint Y was excluded because the school failed to meet their needs. The law prevents us from investigating the conduct, curriculum, internal organisation, management or discipline, in any school.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has upheld her complaint and has already agreed to remedy any injustice caused by delays. Further investigation by us would be unlikely to achieve anything more.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman