Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council delayed in consulting with their preferred choice of school for their daughter’s Education Health and Care plan. Mrs X has appealed to the Tribunal therefore this matter is outside our jurisdiction. We cannot quantify any injustice caused by delay in the Council’s assessment process until the outcome of the appeal is known.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the Council assessed her daughter Y, for an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan. She said it delayed in consulting with her preferred school, which meant Y did not get a place.
2. Mrs X wants the Council to name their preferred school in Y’s EHC plan. She also wants the Council to complete an internal review to confirm if it followed the Special Education Need and Disability (SEND) regulations in its assessment of Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
5. 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.

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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. Mrs X has appealed to the SEND Tribunal about the school named in Y’s EHC plan. Therefore, this complaint is outside our jurisdiction, and we will not investigate it.
9. We can investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delay in the EHC assessment process, but not until the SEND Tribunal is complete. That is because we cannot quantify what injustice if any, the delay may have caused. Mrs X can return to us for consideration of her complaint, once the outcome of the SEND Tribunal is known and she has exhausted the Council’s complaint process.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has appealed to the Tribunal therefore it is outside our jurisdiction. We cannot consider any injustice caused by delay in the assessment process until the outcome of the Tribunal is known.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman