Council left child without care plan for more than a year, ombudsman finds

Hackney Town Hall. Image: Google

Hackney Council left a child without education for almost a year, causing a mother “distress and worry”, an ombudsman has found.

The local government and social care ombudsman ordered Hackney Council to apologise and make payment to a child and her mother after failing to complete a Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) for more than a year, leaving the child without education.

The Council said the delay was a result of receiving late advice from professionals. However, the ombudsman found that the council received the advice in January 2024 and still did not issue the plan for around another 10 months.

The ombudsman said: “Miss X has been caused distress and worry by the delay in issuing the plan.”

A child or young person with special educational needs (SEN) may have an EHC Plan, which sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.

If the council decides to carry out an assessment, it must issue an EHC Plan or refuse to issue a plan within 16 weeks. If the council goes on to issue an EHC Plan, the whole process must take no more than 20 weeks.

Hackney Council received an EHCNA request from child Y’s school in early July 2023, and agreed to complete the assessment towards the end of the same month.

Y was also moved to a local pupil referral unit in around September 2023. Miss X says this was supposed to be a 12-week placement but Y remained in this placement for longer.

The council received Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) advice in October 2023 and then Educational Psychologist (EP) advice in January 2024.

Miss X removed Y from the pupil referral unit in February 2024 following an incident which she was unhappy with.

The child was then recorded as Electively Home Educated (EHE) from February onwards.

The Council issued a draft EHC Plan in early March 2024, and a further draft in May 2024. The council consulted with various school settings but none could offer Y a place.

Miss X contacted the council in August 2024 to try and get an update on what was happening with Y’s EHC Plan and then raised a complaint in September 2024, regarding delays in the EHCNA process.

She also informed the council that her child was not receiving any education.

Hackney emailed Miss X in early October 2024 and said it had not been able to make a decision about naming a placement in Y’s EHC Plan. Miss X responded to say she was not happy with this.

The council took Y’s case to an internal panel for consideration in November 2024 and issued a complaint response to Miss X which apologised for the delays and confirmed it had sent consultations to schools.

Miss X raised a further complaint with the council in early December 2024.

The Council issued Y’s final EHC Plan in mid-December 2024, 13 months late, which resulted in Y only being able to start at the school named in the EHC Plan in mid-January 2025 – a year after being removed from school.

The Council issued a response to Miss X’s complaint in January 2025 and said it had found there had been delays in the EHCNA process due to a delay in receiving EP advice.

The council apologised for this.

The local authority also said Y was receiving education up until Miss X removed them from the pupil referral unit in February 2024.

However, Miss X said the placement was supposed to be for 12 weeks, but Y was left there for significantly longer.

The ombudsman said: “Miss X contacted the council in September 2024 to complain and said in her complaint that Y was not receiving education.

At that point, the council should have been aware that Y was not in receipt of education.

“I appreciate the council were trying to source a placement for Y around this time. However, I cannot see it took any further action to provide Y with alternative education whilst this was ongoing.

“Y did not receive any provision until the EHC Plan was finalised, and they began their new placement in January 2025. This is fault and has caused Miss X distress and Y to miss provision.”

The ombudsman concluded that within four weeks of the decision, the council should write to Miss X to apologise to her and Y for the distress caused by the faults identified.

The council was also ordered to pay Miss X £1,300 to recognise the delay in issuing Y’s EHC Plan – calculated at roughly £100 per month – as well as £2,000 to recognise the missed provision between September 2024 and January 2025.

Cllr Anya Sizer, deputy cabinet member for families, early years and SEND. Photograph: Hackney Council

Cllr Anya Sizer, deputy cabinet member for families, early years and SEND said: “We acknowledge the unusually long delay in completing child Y’s EHCNA and issuing a final plan.

“This was largely due to difficulties in obtaining essential professional advice, particularly from the Educational Psychology Service, during a period of exceptionally high demand and staffing pressures.

“Further time was also needed to ensure the plan accurately reflected the child’s complex needs, and to consult with suitable schools, which unfortunately extended the process. We fully accept the ombudsman’s findings and have apologised to the family for the distress caused.

“We are pleased to confirm that the child is now in a school placement and that their needs are being appropriately supported.

“The council has carried out a review of our internal processes and taken steps to increase capacity within specialist services to prevent similar delays in future.”