Hertfordshire County Council (21 014 636)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Feb 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Education Health and Care Plan provision as Mr and Mrs X have appealed to the Tribunal.
The complaint
- The complainants, whom I shall call Mr and Mrs X, complain that an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) does not meet their child, B’s needs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions about special educational needs. We refer to it as the SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr and Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- B, for whom Mr and Mrs X are their parents, has an EHC Plan. The Council issued a final version in October 2021. Mr and Mrs X say it does not meet B’s needs. They have appealed to the Tribunal SEND.
- The courts have established that if someone has lodged an appeal to a SEND Tribunal, the Ombudsman cannot investigate any matter which is ‘inextricably linked’ to the matters under appeal. This means if a person disagrees with the placement named in an EHC Plan we cannot seek a remedy for lack of education after the date the appeal right started, if it is linked to the disagreement about the school place named. (R (on the application of ER) v Commissioner for Local Administration (Local Government Ombudsman) [2014] EWCA Civ 1407).
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint because they have appealed to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman