Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of an Education Health and Care Plan request as Miss X appealed to the Tribunal. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s provision of education.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council has failed to provide an education to her child, Y. She complains about the way the Council dealt with her Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) request.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
3. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Miss X says Y has special educational needs. Y was born in April 2021. Miss X asked the Council in 2024 to carry out an EHC Plan needs assessment. The Council refused. In January 2025 Miss X appealed to the Tribunal. The Council conceded the appeal in February 2025 and started a needs assessment.
8. In May 2025 the Council decided after the end of its needs assessment that it did not need to issue an EHC Plan. Miss X appealed this decision to the Tribunal. The appeal hearing is set for April 2026.
9. Miss X complained to us in July 2025 that the Council had failed to provide an education to Y and about the way the Council dealt with her EHC Plan request.

Analysis

10. We cannot investigate the Council’s decision not to carry out a needs assessment or its decision not to issue an EHC Plan. This is because Miss X appealed those decisions to the Tribunal. This also means we cannot investigate complaints about the assessment process.
11. Y is not of compulsory school age. The Council has no duty to provide Y with an education. Our investigation is unlikely to find fault in it not doing so.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot investigate matters which have been subject to an appeal. And we are unlikely to find fault in any failure to provide an education.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman