Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has managed to education of a child. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. Some issues are also made late.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains about how the Council has managed her daughter’s education. Mrs X says the Council failed to carry out an Education Health and Care (EHC) assessment which led to her daughter being expelled in 2021. She her daughter is currently not receiving a suitable education and that the Council has still failed to carry out an EHC assessment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council including minutes of meetings.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In November 2021, Mrs X’s daughter was permanently excluded from school and the Council arranged a placement in an alternative education setting for permanently excluded children. Mrs X complains that the Council’s failure to arrange an EHC assessment at her previous school led to her exclusion, that the provision now in place is not appropriate and that the Council has still not carried out an EHC assessment.
7. I will not investigate the actions of the Council prior to Mrs X’s daughter’s exclusion because these events happened too long ago and I cannot see any good reason why they could not have been raised sooner.
8. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the education provision in place for her daughter is not appropriate because it is unlikely, we would find fault by the Council. The Council’s view is that Mrs X’s daughter is not ready to return to a mainstream school placement and that the alternative provision offered is appropriate. Whist I note that Mrs X strongly disagrees this does not mean the Council has done anything wrong. In the absence of fault by the Council we are unable to question the merits of its decision.
9. I will also not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council has failed to carry out an EHC assessment in recent months. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. The Council has said that the reason an assessment hasn’t taken place is because Mrs X initially gave consent for the assessment but then revoked it. Records show that requests for consent were made by email and during meetings with Mrs X, but Mrs X either did not reply to emails or refused to say if she gave consent or not. If Mrs X wants the Council to carry out an EHC assessment she should explicitly tell it that she gives her consent for it to do so.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council and some matters happened too long ago.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman