Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council failed to involve him in decisions about his son’s education. The complaint is late and there are insufficient grounds for the Ombudsman to investigate it now.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council failed to involve him in decisions relating to his son’s education and failed to respond properly to his complaint about the matter.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr B has said in support of his complaint and the complaint correspondence provided by the Council. I have also considered mr B’s response to my draft decision

Back to top

What I found

4. Mr B’s son has special educational needs and an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The Council was responsible for his education between 2013 and 2019. Mr B’s son has now moved to the area of another authority.
5. Mr B complains that the Council failed to involve him in decisions relating to his son’s education. Specifically, he complains that he was not informed of the annual reviews of his son’s EHCP. He argues that this was unreasonable, given that he has parental responsibility for his son and there are no legal restrictions on his access to information. He says he only became aware of the matter when his son left the Council’s area.
6. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. The Ombudsman has the discretion to consider late complaints where it is appropriate to do so. That is not the case here.
7. Mr B brought his complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide him with information about his son’s education to the Ombudsman’s attention in 2013. We decided to discontinue our investigation on the grounds that the Council was acting on legal advice and Mr B’s son was the subject of private legal proceedings.
8. Mr B says the legal proceedings established his right to the information. But I can see no evidence that he pursued the matter with the Council between 2013 and 2019. That being the case, there are insufficient grounds for the us to use our discretion to consider the matter now.
9. Mr B complains that the Council instructed his children’s schools and doctors to change his children’s names. He contends that this was unlawful. If Mr A believes the Council’s actions were unlawful, it would be reasonable for him to pursue the matter in court.
10. Mr B also complains about way the Council’s officer responded to his complaints. We will not consider this matter. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint-handling, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

Back to top

Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there are insufficient grounds to consider it now.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman