LGO Individual Decisions

Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to secure full time education and EHCP provision for Child Y. This left him without education and the provision needed for his learning. There was fault with the Council for failing to provide full time education and provision in Child Y’s EHCP. The was also fault with the Council’s complaint handling. The Council will apologise and make financial payment to Miss X and Child Y.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council interfering with his rights as a deputy because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about an assessment by the Council. The matters complained of are not separable from matters that were or could reasonably have been raised in court.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to agree a personal budget for her daughter, Y’s, Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), leaving her to fund Y’s education. We find the Council at fault for delays. We recommend the Council apologise to Ms X and Y, pay £400 and act to prevent recurrence.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to make suitable and timely arrangements for Miss X’s son’s special educational needs, for the final EHC plan being deficient and not fit for purpose, and for the named placement being unsuitable. This is because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to use her right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

Summary: Mrs X complained about delays in how the Council considered her complaint about its adoption service. The Council was at fault for significant delays in arranging an independent stage three panel. This caused Mrs X frustration and meant she had to go to avoidable time and trouble. The Council will pay Mrs X £300 in recognition of that injustice. It will also promptly arrange the stage three panel hearing and carry out staff training.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint a Council Officer sent a libellous email about Mr X. That is because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. It is reasonable for Mr X to pursue a remedy through the courts if he believes the Council’s actions were defamatory.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Education Health and Care Plan delays and a failure to provide an education meantime. We cannot investigate issues which are subject to an appeal, and it is not possible to know the injustice until the Tribunal ends.

Summary: Ms C complained the Council failed to keep proper records and shared her information with the father of her children, putting her at risk. We have discontinued the investigation because

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s delays in finalising her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan in 2019 and in sourcing a new school for him. We have found the Council to be at fault because it took too long to find a new school and in the way it handled Miss X’s complaints. Miss X and her son suffered avoidable frustration and distress because it took over a year to find a suitable school. To remedy the injustice caused by this fault, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment to Miss X and review its procedures.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about child protection action in respect of the complainant’s children. This is because we would not achieve anything significant by doing so.

Summary: Miss P complains on behalf of her young daughter (Child A) who has special educational needs. The Council maintains and Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) for Child A which identifies what specialist support she needs. Miss P complains in relation to the EHCP process, a delay in providing Child A’s needed support and the contents of the EHCP. She also says the Council’s contact with her has been poor and that Child A did not receive adequate early intervention support. We found the Council failed to provide Child A’s needed EHCP provision when it should have. Further, when the Coun

Summary: Miss P complains on behalf of her young daughter (Child B) who has special educational needs. The Council maintains and Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for Child B which identifies what specialist support she needs. Miss P complains in relation to the EHCP process, a delay in providing Child B’s needed support and the contents of the EHCP. She also says the Council’s contact with her has been poor and that Child B did not receive adequate early intervention support. We found the Council failed to provide Child B’s needed EHCP provision when it should have. Further, when the Coun

Summary: Ms Y complains the Council failed to provide advice about her potential eligibility to receive benefit payments whilst providing long-term foster care for two children. The Council upheld some elements of the complaint, implemented some service improvements, apologised and offered to pay £900 for the distress caused. This is an appropriate remedy and we do not recommend anything further.

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council failed to deal properly with her complaint under the three-stage children's social care complaints procedure. The complaint was about failure to respond adequately to her requests for extra social care support for her disabled son. The children’s social care complaint investigation identified failings by the Council, and there were faults in its complaint handling found in a previous Ombudsman’s investigation. But we find that the Council was not at fault in dealing with the complaint since then. It has provided an appropriate response to the complain

Summary: Mr X complained about delays and other errors in the Education, Health and Care assessment process for his son, Y. There was fault in how the Council prepared Y’s Education, Health and Care plan and responded to Mr X’s complaint. This caused Mr X avoidable inconvenience, frustration, time and trouble, for which the Council agreed to apologise and pay a financial remedy. It also agreed to remind staff about the importance of properly considering comments on draft Education, Health and Care plans.

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council has not completed some of the agreed remedy actions after it upheld her complaints following an investigation under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council is at fault. It has not completed some of the actions agreed. There was also poor record keeping which has caused uncertainty about how the decision to refuse Mrs X support as a parent carer was reached. The Council will apologise to Mrs X for the frustration and uncertainty caused and improve its services.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council naming a school on Mr X’s child’s Education Health and Care Plan that is too far away. Mr X has used his right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal and the matters complained of are not separable from that.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to reduce the funding to meet Mrs X’s mother’s care needs. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault.

Summary: Mrs K complains the Council failed to ensure her son received a suitable education when he was out of school due to anxiety. We have found fault. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment for her son’s educational benefit to acknowledge the injustice caused.

Summary: Mr X complained the Council has failed to provide an education for his daughter, Y, when she became too anxious to attend school in September 2021. We find the Council at fault, which caused Y to miss out on educational provision and put Mr X to avoidable time and trouble. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and Y, to make them several payments and to review its procedures.

Summary: B missed almost a year of education because the Council was unable to arrange school transport for him. The Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment to recognise the impact on B’s education.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to ensure Z was provided with a suitable education or the support in his Education, Health and Care plan (EHC Plan) during various dates between September 2019 and February 2021 and failed to provide the personal budget which had been agreed. Ms X said this meant Z missed out on the education and support he was entitled to. The Council has already agreed there was a lack of provision at times. There was also delay in setting up Ms X’s personal budget which caused her frustration. The Council's offer of £1,200 is suitable to remedy the injustice she a

Summary: Mrs X made two complaints about delay within the Education, Health and Care Plan process for her son. There was fault by the Council for significant delay in issuing a final Plan after an appeal and also in its handling of her second complaint. This caused a direct loss of provision to her son, in addition to time and trouble for Mrs X. The Council has agreed to provide Mrs X with an apology, a financial payment and to make service improvements to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s failure to assess Ms C and charge her for her placement. This is because the Council has acknowledged its failings and remedied the fault.