Bristol City Council (23 012 248)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Dec 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council consulting with potential education settings for her children before she had responded to the draft Education Health and Care Plans. The matters complained of are not separable from the settings and provisions contained in the Plans, where Ms X had an alternative remedy available by way of a right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal it was reasonable to use.
The complaint
- Ms X said the Council failed to wait for her to respond to the draft Education Health and Care (EHC) Plans it issued for her children before consulting with education settings.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- While a council might be at fault if it fails to allow a parent the proper time to respond to a draft EHC Plan as laid out in the SEND Code on Practice, we could not make any recommendations to address the injustice this might cause. This is because the matter is inextricably linked to the nature of the provision offered and the setting named. Both of those matters had or have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal it would be reasonable to use.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the matters she complains of are not separable from matters where she has or had a right of appeal to a tribunal it would be reasonable to use.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman