West Northamptonshire Council (25 025 325)
Category : Education > Alternative provision
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 02 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to name a suitable school place for her daughter in her Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because Miss X has used her right of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide alternative provision while her daughter was unable to attend school because Miss X has challenged its decision at court.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council failed to properly consider whether to arrange alternative educational provision for her daughter under Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 while her daughter was unable to attend school. She also complains the Council failed to secure a suitable placement for her daughter through her Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court but cannot investigate if they have already been to court about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. We may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right but cannot investigate if they have already used it. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the Tribunal in this decision statement.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because Miss X challenged the Council’s decision not to provide alternative provision for her daughter at court and has used her right of appeal to the Tribunal against the school named in her daughter’s EHC Plan. The restrictions set out at Paragraphs 3 and 4 therefore apply.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman