Wolverhampton City council ordered to pay £600 to mum after 18-month wait for special education plan

The Social Care Ombudsman found the city council was at fault over an 18-month wait for the updated document.

The failures caused ‘distress’ for the mum, leaving her uncertain about her primary school-aged child’s education. It also delayed the mum’s right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. 

An EHC plan is a document which sets out a child’s special needs and the arrangements required to meet them. It is the council’s responsibility to conduct an annual review of every child’s EHCP to ensure it is up to date. There is a 12-month timescale to which local authorities must adhere when providing an amendment notice and updated EHCP. 

After the child’s annual review took place in March 2023, Wolverhampton City Council should have issued the amendment notice within four weeks, but instead it issued it five months later in August. 

The local authority should have produced an amended final EHCP within 12 weeks of the initial meeting, however, the plan was issued a year and a half later in September 2024. 

After the mum complained to the Social Care Ombudsman, it ordered Wolverhampton City Council to provide an action plan on how the authority plans to tackle the backlog, to provide a further update about the backlog to the Ombudsman in January, to pay the mum £600 to recognise the distress and uncertainty caused by the delays and issue her an apology. 

A spokesperson from the council said: “The council has acknowledged the delays in failing to issue an amended Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and has formally apologised to the complainant.

“As a council, we are determined to ensure that all our children live in an inclusive city and can achieve their full potential through their education. Demand for specialist school places has risen significantly in recent years, with the number of children with EHCPs in Wolverhampton rising by nearly 64% in the last five years – and by 426 alone last year. 

“This has put increasing pressure on the system – not just here in Wolverhampton, but right across the country. Despite this challenge, SEND services remain committed to continuous and sustained improvement in Wolverhampton and the number of plans completed within the timeframe has increased significantly over the last 12 months. 

“We have completed an action plan on how we intend to reduce the annual review backlog, which has been submitted to the ombudsman. We will provide a further update to the ombudsman on our progress in January.”