Surrey County Council (22 000 436)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 May 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council managed the issuing of an Education Health and Care Plan for Miss X’s child. The matters complained of are not separable from the content of the Plan, in respect of which Miss X had a right of appeal to a Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
The complaint
- Miss X said the Council mismanaged the process of issuing an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for her child. She said the Council rejected a school she had put forward in June 2021.She said it also rejected transport to the school in June 2021, then accepted it in December 2021. She said she only saw one report from a school from March 2021 in Tribunal paperwork in November 2021. She said there was poor communication by the Council and zero transparency.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Council supplied a copy of a letter to Miss X dated 31 March 2021. The letter confirmed the Council had issued a final EHC Plan for her child and that she had a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Miss X’s complaints concerns the actions of the Council after that, during which time it issued further versions of the Plan. Regardless of the merits of the Council’s choice of placement for her child or any concession by the Council before a hearing, Miss X had a right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal, which she used.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is not separable from the content of the EHC Plan, which was a matter in respect of which she had a right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman