Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (23 003 745)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Jul 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the education provided to her son. This is because we cannot consider complaints about what happens in schools or when a person has appealed to a tribunal.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained her son’s school failed to support his special educational needs. Miss X also claimed the school discriminated against her son by excluding him, refusing to take him on a school trip, and failing to make reasonable adjustments.
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 complaints about what happens in schools unless it relates to special educational needs, when the schools are acting on behalf of the council to secure educational provision as set out in Section F of the young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan).
- 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)
- We refer to The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) as the SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X’s complaint is not one we can consider.
- As explained in paragraph 3, we have limited powers to investigate what happens in schools. Miss X’s son did not have an EHC Plan during the period complained about. We therefore have no powers to consider a complaint about his education provision.
- Miss X’s complaint about discrimination is also not one we can consider. Again, it relates to what happened in a school. But Miss X also made a claim of disability discrimination to the SEND Tribunal. That places the matter outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot consider complaints about what happens in schools or when a person has appealed to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman