Hertfordshire education officials are to set-out the specific measures they are taking to reduce delays in the reviews of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), in response to a parent's complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).

The parent had complained to the Ombudsman about council delays in taking action to support her son, who has special educational needs – and in consulting a specialist school for him.

In response to the complaint, the Ombudsman has found that the county council had been at "fault" – directing them to pay the parent £650 in recognition of the "impact of its injustice".

But in a further step the Ombudsman has also told the county council that she wants them to learn  "wider lessons" from the complaint.

In her report she points to repeated recommendations she has made because of the county council's delays in completing EHCP reviews.

And she says council officers have agreed to set out the specific measures they are taking to reduce delays in the reviews of EHCPs – containing clear targets of what will be delivered and by when.

"I note that four times in the past two years we have made service improvement recommendations because of delay by the council in completing a review of an EHC Plan," says the Ombudsman's report.

"I am aware the council has acknowledged there are several areas where it needs to deliver SEN services better, and it has an improvement plan in place to do this.

"But the council has agreed that it write to us within two months of a decision on this complaint and set out what further measures it is taking, or proposes to take, to continue to reduce delays in reviews of EHC plans.

"Those measures should be specific and contain clear targets in terms of what will be delivered and by when."

In addition – in the wake of the Ombudsman's findings – the council will also issue a briefing to all SEN caseworkers on "expectations" when securing additional advice for an EHCP.

The actions stem from a complaint that was made to the Ombudsman by the parent of a boy who was issued with a EHCP in June 2022, when he was four years old.

According to the Ombudsman's report, the following month (July 2022) it was agreed that the child needed a specialist school.

But according to the Ombudsman the authority failed to consult with a specialist school for eight months.

And when it did it was told the school would not have a place for him until September 2024.

However the council – noting the high demand for specialist paces – did suggest to the Ombudsman that the child would not have obtained a place at the school sooner.

The parent had also complained that there had been a delay in the council securing information and advice from a speech and language therapist.

And she said that the child had not received education suitable for their needs – as they had remained in a mainstream school rather than a specialist school.

Although the parent had also complained that the EHCP had not been reviewed within six months, the Ombudsman said that this was not a legal requirement and did not find the council to be at fault.

However she did say the council had "misled" the parent into believing it would hold a review within six months of the initial EHCP being issued – and that this was a "fault", causing the injustice of raising the parents expectations.

She also found that after the review of the boy's EHCP in March 2023 the council failed to send amendments to the boy's mother within four weeks – suggesting that overall it took three months longer to complete than it should.

And she said this caused the parent further injustice.

In addition the Ombudsman considered concerns about the council's approach to speech and language therapy.

According to the report, the child's mother had believed the council was seeking "advice and information" from speech and language therapy.

But the council had suggested it was only checking with the NHS to see of the child was known to them.

The Ombudsman did not find the council at fault for failing to secure the advice – but said the council could have reduced some of the uncertainty if it had been clearer in its communications.

In response to the Ombudsman's findings, officials from the county council say that they have apologised to the family involved.

They point to the challenges facing the council's SEND team and to the investment that has been made in the EHCP process.

"We take the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman's findings very seriously and where they find we have been at fault, we work hard to understand why that has happened, how we can put it right and how we can prevent it happening again," said a spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council.

"We would like to apologise to the family involved in this case and would emphasise we are committed to working in partnership with young people, parents, carers and schools to ensure that all children with SEND and EHCPs in Hertfordshire receive the support they need and deserve.

"The challenges faced by our SEND team have become increasingly pronounced, which has led to the growing surge of statutory demand and pressure over recent years.

"In response to this, further investments was made in recognition of the critical need to alleviate the high case-loads of our officers that support children and young people with EHCPs and to improve on the service we offer children, young people and their families.

 "To date, we have recruited over 100 new staff members with these new staff completing rigorous training an induction program through the SEND Academy.

"This initiative not only bolsters our workforce but also addresses key Ofsted 'Areas of Improvement', focusing on improving communication with parents, carers and schools by assigning a named officer who oversees children and young people who attend those settings."