Ombudsman criticises county council for 15-month delay to EHC plan

Surrey County Council took 15 months too long to issue a disabled boy’s education, health and care (EHC) plan, and unfairly limited his father’s ability to seek updates, a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has found.

This was the second complaint upheld by the Ombudsman about Surrey’s handling of the boy’s case.

He has significant special educational needs and Surrey’s delay meant that he spent too long in a school that was unable to provide the right occupational therapy support.

Only when the council finally issued a new plan was he sent to a school with suitable provision.

Ombudsman Michael King also found the council at fault for claiming it did not know the boy missed therapy sessions for more than a year after his father first informed them.

Mr King said he had issued both a national report and numerous local ones on errors in councils’ handling of EHC plans, and “I urge councils to take note of the advice and recommendations they contain”.

Explaining his decision, he said: “This case was beset with misinformation and poor communication from the council with the family.

“On a number of occasions we asked officers to back up their assertions about what the father had agreed, and its reasoning behind certain decisions. The council provided us with little or no evidence.

“This is unfortunately the second time we have upheld a complaint from this family about the council’s poor communication. I welcome its ready acceptance of my recommendations, and hope the council will now learn the lessons about keeping people properly informed.”

Mr King said Surrey had agreed to:

• apologise to the father for the 15-month delay in issuing the EHC Plan, wrongly telling him it was unaware of missing occupational therapy sessions and seeking to restrict his communication without good reason;
• pay him £3,000 for his son’s lost school provision, £250 for his time pursuing the matter and £500 for restricting his communications;
• arrange training for staff to ensure they are aware that attending a specialist school does not automatically meet a child’s special educational needs when the EHC plan is out of date, and that they should not restrict a person’s communications without evidence.

Julie Iles, Surrey County Council’s Cabinet Member for All-Age Learning, said: “We fully accept the findings from the Ombudsman and we are apologising to the family. This young boy is now receiving the right support to meet his complex needs and we’ll ensure that continues and also act on the recommendations made, including providing extra staff training.

“We’ve already made changes to services since this happened and we’re carrying out a wider transformation which is aimed at giving children and young people the support they need at the earliest opportunity, in line with our vision for Surrey that no one is left behind.”

Mark Smulian