Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a personal budget for special educational needs. This is because the matter is currently part of ongoing court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains the Council has incorrectly assessed her personal budget and failed to correctly carry out a Parent and Child Needs Assessment for this year. She also complains the Council has delayed in responding through its complaints procedure.
2. Mrs Y says this has led to her not receiving the necessary care and support she should. She also says she has suffered from upset, inconvenience and uncertainty as the assessment has not been carried out correctly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
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 may decide not to continue an investigation if we decide it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mrs Y and the Council provided before making this decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs Y made an earlier complaint, about the same issues for the last funding period, which we investigated and decided in April 2021. As part of that investigation, the Council informed us and Mrs Y of its intention, to ask the court to make a Supervision Order for Mrs Y to allow the Council to access her child. With access to Mrs Y’s child, the Council hopes to carry out an in-person assessment of the child’s needs and Mrs Y’s. These proceedings are ongoing.
7. As this complaint is a continuation of the previous complaint, but for the new funding period, and forms a substantial part of the proceedings the court is considering, we cannot investigate this complaint.
8. Further the Council, as part of our previous investigation, agreed it would fully investigate and provide a response to Mrs Y’s complaints once these proceedings have ended. It is therefore reasonable for Mrs Y to ask for the council to review her complaint once the proceedings have ended.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate this complaint about a personal budget for special educational needs. This is because the matter is part of continuing court proceedings, and it is reasonable for Mrs Y to ask for a council review once the proceedings have ended.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman