Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council managed the education provision of a child. This is because the complainant appealed the Council’s decision to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council managed his daughter’s education provision. Mr X says the Council’s decision to name a mainstream placement on his daughter’s Education Health and Care (EHC) plan meant that his daughter was unable to attend school and led to an Education Officer threaten legal action against Mr X.

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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. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (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.
5. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the issues he complains about arise from the Council’s decision to name a mainstream school on his daughter’s EHC plan. Mr X appealed this decision to the SEND tribunal, which places this decision outside of our jurisdiction.
9. Even if some elements of Mr X’s complaint were separable from the matter appealed at tribunal we would not investigate them. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaints about these matters in May and August 2021, but Mr X has waited a year to either escalate them further either with the Council or the Ombudsman. Therefore, Mr X’s complaint is made late, and I see no reason why he could not have complained sooner.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he appealed the Council’s decision to a tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman