Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the setting named in an Education Health and Care Plan as a Tribunal decided this.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, says the Council delayed in proposing a school for his child, Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X says his child, Y, has an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan), for their special needs. He says the Tribunal decided the EHC Plan content in July 2021. He says that since then the Council has recommended another setting for Y. Mr X says this setting is much better than previous provisions. He says the Council should have recommended this setting earlier, and before July 2021.
8. An EHC plan sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about education, or name a different school. Only the tribunal can do this.
9. We cannot investigate why the new setting was not proposed before July 2021 as the Tribunal considered and decided Y’s educational setting in July 2021.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate issues a Tribunal decided.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman