Mother experienced frustration from not having appeal rights sooner, Ombudsman finds

The woman behind the complaint, Mrs X, complained about the delay from West Northamptonshire in issuing her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.

She said that because of the delay, her child lost out on special educational provision. Also, due to this, they were delayed in changing schools.

Outlining the background to the case, the Ombudsman said Mrs X applied for her child to have an assessment for an EHC plan in February 2025.

The Council agreed to complete an assessment and had until June 2025 to produce a final EHC plan.

In April 2025, the council received advice from an Educational Psychologist. Due to staff shortages, the council failed to issue the EHC plan until October 2025.

Mrs X said that as a result, she could not apply for a specialist school for the start of the academic year in September 2025.

The council named the existing school on the plan in October 2025. Mrs X then appealed this to the Tribunal.

However, she dropped the appeal after the council amended the school named on the plan. This occurred after the council secured a placement at the school to start in Easter 2026.

Analysing the complaint, the Ombudsman found that the council’s delay in completing the EHC Plan caused Mrs X injustice in the form of “frustration and distress in believing the council were not treating her fairly”.

When the EHC plan was finalised in October 2025, it listed that Mrs X’s child had extensive needs and needed added support.

The Ombudsman said: “It is therefore fair to conclude if the EHC plan had been produced within statutory timeframes (by June 2025) that Mrs X child would have received support sooner.

Consequently, Mrs X’s child has lost out on this because of the delay caused directly by the Council.”

The Ombudsman continued: “What is not in dispute, is that Mrs X has experienced frustration from not having appeal rights sooner. If the Council had produced the plan on time, then she could have appealed sooner if the school was not named on the plan.”

To remedy the injustice caused, the council was recommended to:

• Provide Mrs X with an apology for the injustice caused by the delay in producing the EHC plan and the frustrated appeal rights this also caused.
• Pay Mrs X £1,200 for the injustice caused by the missed special educational provision for June, July, September and October 2025.
• Pay Mrs X £300 for the frustration caused by the delayed appeal rights experienced from June to October 2025.

A spokesperson for West Northamptonshire Council said: "We accept the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's findings and apologise to the family for the shortcomings identified in this case.

"We recognise the impact that delays and the issues identified can have on children and families and have taken steps to address the matters highlighted by the Ombudsman. We have taken action to learn from this case and strengthen our processes to help prevent similar issues occurring in the future."

Lottie Winson