The council has apologised for the faults and paid compensation to the man
Ealing Council has been forced to apologise for leaving a disabled 18-year-old without necessary therapies for over a year.
The council failed to review the man’s (referred to as Mr B in the report) ECHP after he had moved to the area during his transition into adulthood. In spring 2025, Mr B’s family moved to the borough with an ECHP – a plan which stated that Mr B should attend an independent special school and receive direct in-class support from a speech and language therapist.
Despite receiving his transferred ECHP, by July the council had not provided the 18-year-old with any provision, leading their relative Mr X to file a complaint. The Local Government Ombudsman found this to be a fault on the part of Ealing Council, arguing that “the council should have reviewed Mr B’s EHC Plan by July 2025”.
The council responded to the complaint, outlining that Mr B would receive tuition in the meantime while the council finds him an independent school. All councils have a duty to make sure a young person with an EHCP receives the special educational provision set out in their plan.
Ealing Council should have made provision available in April, yet failed to until October 2025 – deemed as fault number two. By July 2026, Ealing Council still had yet to issue its finalised EHCP.
The council is also yet to provide the speech and language therapy and occupational therapy set out in Mr B’s plan. This is a delay of 14 months so far, and a further fault.
In January 2026, the local authority assessed that Mr B needed the support of a personal assistant to access his tuition. The information it referred to in its decision-making was available in April 2025, leading the watchdog to conclude that ”the council could have completed this assessment earlier”.
Mr X also complained about poor communication from Ealing Council. The authority put this down to a “staffing issue” and has apologised for this.
The Ombudsman issued a number of actions the council must take to remedy the situation. It ordered that within eight weeks of the final decision, published in July 2026, Mr B’s ECHP must be issued.
It has told the council to arrange speech and language therapy and take action to address the shortfall in the provision caused by the 14-month delay. The authority must also arrange and address occupational therapy after the 14 months without.
Ealing Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and Mr B, and will make a payment of £500 compensation. An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “We accept the Ombudsman’s findings and apologise for the delays experienced by this young person and their family.
“We have agreed to the recommendations, including issuing the final Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan, ensuring the required support is in place, provided a formal apology and made the recommended payment. We are also working to improve how we plan and manage transitions from children’s to adult services for young people with EHC Plans.”
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