A council has apologised after a local government watchdog found it wrote almost 100 “mendacious letters” to parents of vulnerable children wrongly saying it had reviewed their care plans.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigated Stockton Council after a mother complained her teenager had missed out on a significant amount of support and been out of school for a long period. The mum said she was sent letters for two years saying the council had carried out an annual review of the teenager’s education, health and care (EHC) plan, when in fact it had not done so.
The council admitted nearly 100 other children and young people with EHC plans had also received letters incorrectly stating reviews had taken place between July 2024 and May 2025. This means their support was not updated properly – but the council says it “did not intend to mislead anyone”.
The Ombudsman recommended the council write to the 99 families in three months “to explain what it did wrong and apologise” and invite them to get in touch and consider an interim review. In the specific case, the council agreed to apologise to the mum and young person and pay them £5,900 to recognise the impact of four-and-a-half terms’ missed education and frustration caused by the letters.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Amerdeep Somal said: “I am alarmed that the council would send such mendacious letters to nearly 100 families of vulnerable children saying review meetings have taken place when the council was aware they haven’t. The council told me it issued the letters to comply with its statutory duties – but its duty is to carry out the yearly reviews, not to untruthfully say it has done so.
“Annual reviews are designed to ensure EHC plans still meet the child or young person’s needs, and measure how they are achieving against their targets. Without carrying out an annual review, councils have no way of knowing whether they are fulfilling their requirements.
“We recognise councils are under increasing pressure to complete the various stages of the EHC process in the timescales required by law given the significant increase in children and young people with EHC plans. Nevertheless, we must hold councils to account.
“We welcome the council’s openness to telling us about the letters it sent to other families.
“I hope both Stockton-on-Tees and other councils can learn lessons from this case and the changes the council has agreed to make will ensure it has a firmer grip on the EHC plan review process in future.”
The Ombudsman’s investigation which brought the issue to light was launched after a mother’s complaint that her child’s EHC plan had not been maintained properly. The mother was concerned the council had not correctly followed the annual review process, which meant information about the support the teenager needed was out of date.
The council claimed it closed a review with “no change” to the plan because the timescale had passed. A new plan recommended a transfer to specialist post-16 provision, but the teenager – identified only as “Y” – did not transfer, several placements said they could not meet Y’s needs and there was no record of the council seeking alternatives.
It sent an identical “standard letter” a year later, again saying it had decided not to change the teenager’s plan. On one occasion, the council untruthfully claimed it had carried out a review on a Saturday, and a letter referred to consulting with the teenager’s school, but the teenager was not in any school at the time, with the Ombudsman’s report saying the council “referred to input from a school that Y never attended, and annual reviews that never took place”.
The mother said she had always wanted the teenager to complete their education, “but the council had not made this possible”. The Ombudsman found fault with the council for not carrying out a review until June 2024, causing uncertainty and distress, missing opportunities and meaning “Mrs X and Y’s views were not heard”.
As part of its recommendations “to remedy the injustice caused”, it recommended the council develop an action plan to ensure every child and young person has an annual review every year.
In response, Stockton Council says it issued “no change” letters to parents and carers of 99 children with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) in 2023-4 after paperwork was not received from the children’s schools. As no review meeting was held, it assumed no changes were required to the plans, but this did not follow statutory guidance.
Now it says it is carrying out a thorough internal review to understand how it happened. It says it is strengthening its processes to ensure children receive support, improve decision-making, ensure annual reviews take place, improve communication with families, train staff and review procedures.
Majella McCarthy, the council’s director of children’s services, said: “We fully accept the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s findings and recommendations and are sincerely sorry for the disruption and distress caused. We acknowledge the importance of consistent and timely educational provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and we regret that the council did not fulfil its responsibilities for both the young person at the centre of this complaint and also the other families affected.
“We did not intend to mislead anyone, and we are very sorry for the impact that not carrying out annual reviews may have had on the educational opportunities and experiences of the 99 young people identified. We fully understand how important these reviews are in ensuring young people’s needs are being met and that they are receiving the right support.
“We deeply regret in these cases this did not happen and apologise for any concern or upset caused by this. We are reviewing and improving our processes to ensure that this does not happen again, limiting the use of generic wording in letters.
“We are committed to learning from this case and have undertaken a comprehensive review to ensure that issues do not arise in the future. An action plan has been put into place to strengthen systems, processes and communication with young people and their families.
“We recognise that in this case, the learning and wellbeing of the complainant’s child was impacted. We are sorry for the difficulties this has caused to them and their family. As a result, we have offered a financial payment to the family for the upset caused.
“Following the publication of the Ombudsman’s report, we will be writing to affected families to invite anyone with concerns about their child’s provision to contact us directly to arrange an interim review.”
The council told the Ombudsman it carried out almost 95% of annual reviews as expected between July 2024 and May 2025, higher than the national average of 86.5%. It said the failures occurred amid national pressures on the SEND system.
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