Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her child’s special educational needs and education, health, and care plan between 2017 and 2023. This is because her complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her child’s special educational needs (SEN) and education, health, and care (EHC) plan between 2017 and 2023. She says that the Council’s poor handling of her child’s case meant her child had no education during this period.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X is unhappy with the Council’s handling of her child’s SEN and EHC plan between 2017 and 2023. Miss X previously complained to us about these matters in late 2021.
6. We closed the complaint and advised Miss X it was premature as the complaint had not yet exhausted the Council’s complaints procedure.
7. The Council told us that it tried to engage with Miss X in a stage two complaint following our referral. However, the council said Miss X refused to engage with the process and eventually it was agreed for the complaint to be closed due to lack of engagement. Miss X did not bring the complaint back to us to consider.
8. An investigation is not justified as Miss X’s complaints about the Council’s actions between 2017 and 2022 is late. The evidence available shows Miss X was aware of her concerns as she came to us in 2021. If Miss X did not wish to engage with the Council to allow it to investigate her complaint after we referred it back to the Council, it would have been reasonable to expect her to have come back to us to consider the matter further.
9. However, we could consider matters from February 2023 onwards as those matters occurred within the last 12 months. The Council said the current situation is that the child has provisions available to them through their school. However, as the school recently expressed concern about whether they could meet the child’s needs due to their low level of attendance, the Council was working on commissioning a new provider for the child.
10. The Council confirmed it can register and proceed with a stage one complaint for Miss X’s concerns from February 2023 onwards. Therefore, it is appropriate to give the Council the opportunity to consider Miss X’s complaint. Once the Council has issued its final complaint response, it is open to Miss X to make a new complaint to us. We can then consider her complaint to decide whether it is a complaint we can, and should, investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because her complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman