Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has handled his son’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Mr X has taken too long to come to the Ombudsman about delays in issuing his son’s plan and he is able to appeal more recent decisions with the SEND Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council delayed issuing an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) for his son. Mr X is also unhappy with the school named on his son’s most recent EHCP.
2. Mr X says the Council’s actions have caused him significant time and trouble and caused him and his family stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The Ombudsman found fault with the Council in 2018 when there were delays in issuing an EHCP for Mr X’s son. We said Mr X should complain to the Ombudsman again once his appeal with the SEND Tribunal was concluded. Mr X received the SEND Tribunal decision in July 2019 but he did not complain to the Ombudsman again until June 2021.
9. Mr X says he did not complain sooner because of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters he had to deal with. However, it has taken Mr X almost two years to complain to us and even taking account of the impact of the pandemic this is a late complaint and we will not investigate. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion because it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have complained to us sooner.
10. Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s more recent decision on his son’s EHCP and he disagrees with the school named on the plan. If Mr X is unhappy with the school named on the plan he can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Mr X has appealed to the Tribunal in the past and I see no reason why he cannot do so again.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of it is a late complaint and Mr X is able to appeal to Tribunal regarding more recent issues regarding his son’s EHCP.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman