Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about delays by the Council in naming a school in an Education, Health and Care Plan for her child following a review. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council did not follow statutory time frames after it reviewed her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. She said the Council had not applied the law correctly. She said this caused her stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I considered the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014.

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My assessment

6. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an EHC Plan. Y has an EHC Plan.
7. For children moving between primary and secondary school, the council must review and amend their EHC Plan – including naming the school or type of school the child will attend – by 15 February in the calendar year of the transfer. Y was due to move to secondary school in September 2025.
8. The law also says when the council is amending an EHC Plan after a review, it must issue an amended EHC Plan within 12 weeks of the review meeting.
9. In October 2024, the Council reviewed Y’s EHC Plan. In December 2024, it issued a final EHC Plan, but this did not name a school for Y to attend in September 2025. It told Ms X there were circumstances preventing it from naming a school at that point and so it would issue a further amended EHC Plan which named a school, before the 15 February 2025 deadline.
10. Ms X complained about the Council’s actions. She said if the Council delayed until the 15 February to name a school, it would be in breach of the other statutory deadlines and duties it must follow when it reviews an EHC Plan.
11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s actions. After the Council reviewed Y’s EHC Plan in October 2024, it had until January 2025 to issue a final EHC Plan. It issued a final EHC Plan in December 2024, which was within the statutory deadlines.
12. Once the Council issued the EHC Plan in December 2024, it gave Ms X a right of appeal against its decision not to name a school and the contents of the EHC Plan. Ms X had this right of appeal within the statutory time frames. It is therefore unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman