Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to pay the complainants costs, after an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. This is because the Tribunal decided not to award costs to the complainant, and we cannot investigate any complaint that has been dealt with by a tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council carried out an Education Health and Care (EHC) assessment of his son’s Special Educational Needs (SEN). Mr X appealed the contents of the EHC plan to the SEND Tribunal and says the Council’s should now repay him the costs of arranging independent experts and assessments.

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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 about the same matter. (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.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council carried out a review of Mr X’s son’s SEN and issued a final EHC plan. Mr X disagreed with he contents of the EHC plan so appealed to the SEND Tribunal. Mr X then submitted an application for costs to the Tribunal which was refused.
8. I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter of costs has been considered by the SEND Tribunal. The law says we cannot investigate any matter that has been considered as part of an appeal to a tribunal. This restriction applies even though the Tribunal rejected the costs application.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter has been subject to an appeal to a tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman