Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions when drafting a new Education Health and Care Plan for Mr X’s son to transfer to a new school. The matters are not separable from the final content of the Plan, which is would have been a matter for the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to conduct itself properly when it reviewed his son. In particular, he said the Council ignored him and filed to engage with him when naming a school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X’s complaint is about the Council’s conduct during the process of reviewing his son’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for school transfer. The complaint is not separable from the content of the EHC Plan, which had a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is not separable from the content of the EHC Plan, which was a matter for the SEND Tribunal, not the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman