Summary: The Council failed to meet its legal duty to secure the provision in Ms Z’s Education, Health and Care plan (EHC plan). This caused her to miss out on provision she was entitled to receive between January and May 2022. Ms Z also missed education earlier between May and December 2021. However, this could not be remedied by the Ombudsman as it is outside of our jurisdiction to investigate. The Council has already accepted fault and offered Ms Z £1200. We recommend the Council increase the remedy for missed provision to £2,500, in addition to paying Ms Z’s mother, Ms X, £300 to reflect the frustration and distress caused to her. The Council did not delay in producing Ms Z’s EHC plans, or fail to consider her views as an independent adult, during this complaint period.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her son, C, with suitable alternative education when he was unable to attend school. She also complained the Council failed to adhere to statutory time limits when dealing with C’s Education, Health, and Care Plan. We find the Council was at fault for failing to provide suitable alternative provision, poor communication, and failing to finalise C’s Education, Health, and Care Plan within statutory time limits. This caused Mrs X frustration, inconvenience, and uncertainty. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice caused.

Summary: the Council delayed processing Miss B’s in year school admissions application, delayed referring the matter to the fair access panel, failed to consider whether it was appropriate to send Miss B’s daughter back to the allocated school and failed to keep Miss B up-to-date with what was happening. An apology, payment to Miss B, agreement to refer the case back to the fair access panel and a reminder to those sitting on fair access panels of the requirements when considering a case is satisfactory remedy.

Summary: Mr F complains that the Council delayed issuing his son’s amended EHC plan after the 2022 annual review. We found there was fault which has caused uncertainty to Mr F and his son. The Council will make a symbolic payment to them to remedy this distress.

Summary: the Council took 17 weeks too long to amend Ms M’s daughter G’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan following an annual review in July 2022. We have recommended a remedy for the impact of the delay on G’s education and the additional childcare costs Ms M incurred. We cannot consider Ms M’s complaint once the Council issued the final amended Plan because she appealed to the SEND Tribunal.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide education for her child following their exclusion from school. We found fault with the Council for delaying provision of suitable alternative provision. The Council agreed to pay Ms X £1,900 to address Y’s missed educational provision caused through the Council’s delays. The Council also agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £250 for the inconvenience, frustration and distress caused.

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council delayed in completing an education, health and care needs assessment for her daughter causing distress and anxiety. We found the Council was at fault in failing to meet statutory deadlines. It has agreed to make a payment to Ms X in recognition of the injustice caused.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a safeguarding incident she reported which took place at her child’s school. Any fault has not caused injustice to her.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a disclosure made by a Council social worker. This is because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now. In addition, even if we did exercise discretion, the injustice identified is minimal and we would be unlikely to provide Mr X with a worthwhile outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s child and family assessment of Ms X and her child Y. This is because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome for Ms X.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council did not consider her complaints through the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The complaint is late.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s child’s case. The matter is currently subject to family court proceedings and the courts are best placed to make decisions about Mr X’s child’s best interests.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about an Education Health and Care Plan. It is reasonable to have expected her to have appealed to the Tribunal.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to Mr X’s concerns about historical abuse. That is because the complaint is late.

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about matters relating to her children being placed for adoption in the late 1990s because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been subject to court proceedings.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Miss X’s children’s case. The matter is currently being considered in private law proceedings. It is open to Miss X to complain after those proceedings have finished.

Summary: Mr X complained that the Council refused to complete an annual review of his son’s education, health and care plan and failed to issue a revised EHCP by the statutory deadline following a phase transfer review. We found the Council was not at fault.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide her daughter with suitable education provision while she was unable to attend school and delayed providing subsequently agreed provision. Ms X says her daughter missed out on education and suffered avoidable distress. We have found fault in the delay in issuing a new Education, Health and Care Plan and in providing the agreed provision. I consider the agreed action of a symbolic payment to recognise both uncertainty and loss of education provides a suitable remedy.

Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to provide education to her child since September 2022. We found fault with the Council failing to provide education to Ms X’s child since October 2022. The Council agreed to our recommendations to provide Ms X with an apology and a payment of £4,000 to reflect the impact of the missed education on Ms X’s child.

Summary: The Council was at fault for the time taken to amend and issue an Education, Health and Care plan following an annual review. This caused injustice as the child did not know what support they were due to get until just before they moved into post-16 education. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council agreed to apologise, make a payment for the distress caused and produce an action plan showing how it will meet statutory timescales for annual reviews.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint her daughter’s school wrongly off-rolled her despite it being named in her Education Health and Care plan. That is because we cannot investigate the actions of schools. In addition, the Council complained about is not responsible for the Education Health and Care plan.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to provide his daughter with free transport to school. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault.

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a school admissions appeal panel’s decision as it is unlikely we could find fault.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault and so we cannot question the panel’s decision.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s children services actions towards her. We cannot investigate issues in Court proceedings.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to deliver provisions set out in her son, Y’s, Education, Health and Care plan and failed to react or respond when elements of the provision failed. She also complained there was a delay of one year receiving the final Education, Health and Care plan after a decision by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal, and a further delay arranging an annual review in 2022. The Council was at fault for failing to maintain proper oversight of Y’s Education, Health and Care plan. The Council was responsible for delays and missed provision.

Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to ensure her child D received a suitable alternative education while out of school or had their special educational needs met. The Council accepted it was at fault because it failed to ensure suitable alternative education was in place. This meant D missed education and support for their special educational needs. This also caused avoidable distress for D and their parents, and avoidable time and trouble for Miss X. The Council agreed to pay a financial remedy, review relevant procedures, and issue reminders to its staff.

Summary: The Council significantly delayed amending K’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. As a result, he did not receive all the special educational provision he needed for one year. The Council also failed to respond to correspondence and delayed responding to complaints. The Council has agreed to make a payment to K for the loss of provision, and to his mother, Mrs X, for the distress she experienced as a result of the Council’s failings in this case.

Summary: the Council did not consider its duty under s19 of the Education Act 1996 to make alternative arrangements for B’s education when Ms M said he was too ill to attend school. Further, this appears to be a wider problem as we have investigated a similar complaint before. The Council has accepted our recommendations.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about whether the Council has exercised discretion under a specific section of the Education Act 1996 and refused to provide information. We will not revisit a complaint which we have previously considered. And it is reasonable to expect the complainant to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if she believes the Council is withholding information. Finally, we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault and so we cannot question the panel’s decision.

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault and so we cannot question the panel’s decision.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about inaccuracies in the Council’s assessments relating to Miss X’s children. The matter is currently being considered as part of family court proceedings. It is open to Miss X to complain after those proceedings have finished.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Miss X’s child’s case. The matter is currently subject to court proceedings. It is open to Miss X to complain again after these have finished.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with the complainant son and the delay in its subsequent complaint response. This is because we could not add anything significant to the investigation the Council has already carried out.

Summary: Mr X says the Council wrongly recorded him as a sex offender and failed to answer his Subject Access Request properly. We will not investigate. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office as it is better placed to deal with his information request. And there are no good reasons to look at the Council’s records on Mr X as it happened in 2016 outside our usual 12-month time frame for accepting complaints.

Summary: Miss Y complains the Council failed in its duty to provide a full-time education to her son, D, when they moved into its area last year. Although the Council has put some alternative provision in place, Miss Y says this is part time and not sufficient for D. We find the Council failed to provide an education suitable for D’s needs and did not finalise his Education, Health and Care plan. This caused injustice to both Miss Y and D which the Council will remedy with the actions listed at the end of this statement.

Summary: Miss X complained there was delay in the process of reviewing and updating her son’s EHC plan. She also complained that communication was poor. We found there was fault by the Council and we upheld both elements of Miss X’s complaint. We recommended a written apology and a payment to reflect the distress this caused. We noted the Council was in the process of recruiting more staff to improve the situation.

Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council’s delays during the Education, Health and Care needs assessment process for her son. We find the Council was at fault because it took too long to issue the final Education, Health and Care plan. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure education provision for her daughter since January 2022 and delayed in amending her Education, Health and Care Plan. She says this caused distress to both herself and her daughter. There was delay in amending the EHC plan and a lack of suitable education throughout 2022. A suitable remedy for the injustice caused is agreed.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful school admission appeal. This is because the complainant’s child has now been offered a place at the School and we could not achieve anything more.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful school admission appeal. This is because the complainant’s child has now been offered a place at the School and we could not achieve anything more.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s School Admissions Appeal Panel’s handling of her appeal against the refusal to offer her child a place at her preferred school. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant further investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s School Admissions Appeal Panel’s handling of her appeal against the refusal to offer her child a place at her preferred school. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant further investigation.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s children’s case. The matters he complains about are inextricably linked to court proceedings. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks, and it is open to him to appeal the court’s decisions.

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the actions of the Council’s children services. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome she wants and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to accept a complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of Mr X’s son’s social worker. He says the social worker inappropriately interfere with his children’s lives, has abused them, and attempted to alienate his children from him. This is because an investigation is unlikely to lead to different findings or outcomes. In addition, there is insufficient evidence of fault.

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with matters relating to the care of the complainants children. This is because the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings.

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to properly support Ms X when it became involved with her family. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions.

Summary: Mr X complains the Council has not provided his daughter, Y, with home to school transport since September 2022. Mr X also complains about the parental mileage rate allocated for transporting his daughter to school. We have found fault by the Council for the delay in arranging suitable transport for Y, and failing to ensure she received a full-time education as set out in her Education and Health Care Plan. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.