Summary: We will not investigate Mr C’s complaint about the Council’s failure to formally respond to his request for a reassessment of his daughter’s Education Health and Care needs. This is because the Council has now complied with Mr C’s request, and therefore any further investigation would not achieve a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr C, complains that the Council failed to issue a formal response to his request for a reassessment of his daughter, Z’s, Education Health and Care (EHC) needs. Mr C says he is unable to appeal the Council’s decision until this is issued.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Mr C’s complaint and the Council’s response. I have invited Mr C to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Background

4. Mr C has a daughter, Z, who has Special Educational Needs (SEN). She is therefore subject to an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan.
5. The Council carried a review of Z’s EHC plan and issued a final version in October 2020.
6. Mr C disagreed with the contents of the plan and asked the Council to carry out a reassessment of her needs. The Council refused Mr C’s request.

What happened

7. Mr C complained to the Council. He said it had informally refused his request for a reassessment but needed to provide a formal notification for him to start the appeal process.
8. The Council refused to consider his complaint as he was undertaking mediation. Mr C therefore complained to the Ombudsman.
9. Since raising his complaint with the Ombudsman, the Council has issued him with a formal notification detailing its reasons for refusing his request for a reassessment.

Assessment

10. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has now provided Mr C with the formal notification he wanted, and which allows him to appeal its decision. I would therefore not achieve a different outcome if I started an investigation.

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Final decision

11. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because any investigation would not achieve a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman