The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of an Education, Health, and Care Plan assessment. This is because the Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused to Mrs X by the fault, and because Mrs X can appeal the Council’s decision not to issue an EHC plan.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of her son’s Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) assessment process. She says the Council has continuously missed deadlines and upheld her complaint, but has still not completed the assessment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended) The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council accepted there was delay in completing the EHCP assessment following an order from the tribunal to complete one.
If we were to investigate this complaint, it is likely we would find fault with the Council for the significant delay in it completing the EHCP assessment. While we acknowledge the Council has apologised for the fault, we consider it appropriate for the Council to make a small financial payment to recognise the distress and time and trouble caused to Mrs X by the delay.
The Council has agreed to our proposal to pay Mrs X, within four weeks of our final decision, £300 to recognise the injustice caused to her.
In November 2021, the Council decided it was not necessary to make special educational provision for Mrs X’s child in accordance with an EHC plan. The Council considered the child’s needs and provision could be met from the resources available within the universal and targeted offer in mainstream schools.
Therefore, I do not consider the delay had any impact on the child as the Council’s decision was not to issue an EHC plan. If Mrs X disagrees with the Council’s decision, it is reasonable for to her to appeal the decision to the SEND Tribunal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to our proposed recommendation to remedy the injustice caused to Mrs X by the delays and because Mrs X can appeal the Council’s decision not to issue an EHC plan.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman