Westminster City Council (22 017 274)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Apr 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to provide a child with a full-time education placement. This is because the complaint is made late and I see no good reason why it could not have been made sooner.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Ms X, complains that the Council failed to arrange a full time education placement for her child in September 2021.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In June 2021, the council issued an Education and Health Care (EHC) plan for Ms X’s daughter naming a mainstream placement to start in September that year. Ms X complains that the Council only provided the school with funding for 15 hours of education rather than the full provision of 32.5 hours. Ms X says that this meant she had to pay for the additional provision. The Council say it provided funding for the full 32.5 hours and that the school had not made it aware of any issue at the time.
- I will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because it is made late. I see no reason why Ms X could not have raised a complaint with the Council in September 2021 when she first became aware of the issue. I note that Ms X did submit an appeal to the SEND Tribunal about the contents of the EHC plan. However, this did not prevent her from complaining about the provision arranged by the Council which is a separate issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is made late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman