Central Beds Council 'sorry' after missing education plan deadline for child with special needs
A parent of a student with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in Central Bedfordshire has received an apology £400 from the local authority, after it missed a statutory education deadline.
The mother complained that Central Bedfordshire Council failed to meet the timeline for issuing an amended education, health and care plan (EHCP) for her daughter, according to a local government watchdog.
This happened as the daughter was moving from secondary school to post-16 education, said a report from the local government and social care ombudsman.
“She said this means her daughter started college without an EHCP in place to cover all the support that was needed, which caused uncertainty and distress.
“Her daughter moved from secondary school to post-16 provision in September 2025. The council should have reviewed the plan and provided a final amended version by March 31st 2025.
“CBC issued the final EHCP in September. The process was therefore subject to significant delay, exceeding the statutory timescale by some six months. This meant the plan wasn’t in place in time for the daughter’s admission to the college.
“The council upheld part of her the mother’s complaint and apologised for delays in the review process, which meant her daughter’s EHCP wasn’t amended and finalised within the statutory timeframe.”
CBC offered the mother a symbolic payment of £400 to recognise the delay, and for the stress and frustration caused, explained the report. “The local authority also said it would make changes to its review process when young people with EHCPs move from secondary school to post-16 provision.
“She further complained that the provision set in the plan wasn’t initially made when her daughter started college. The council has set out that it was initially unaware that the college hadn’t made the provision, but it acted to address the matter when it became aware.
“As a result the ombudsman won’t formally investigate the mother’s complaint. This is because it has been substantially upheld already and an appropriate remedy offered.
“Where a complaint has been properly addressed and upheld before coming to us, we won’t normally intervene,” added the report. “In this case, investigation by us would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome or achieve significantly more than the remedy offered by CBC.”