North Yorkshire Council (23 012 334)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Dec 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to an Education Health and Care plan. This is because the complainant has used their right of appeal to a tribunal which places the matter outside of our jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that the Council failed to consider relevant information before issuing a final Education Health and Care (EHC) plan for his child. Mr X says this meant he had to appeal to a tribunal. Mr X would like the Council to refund his legal fees associated with the appeal and to compensate him for the distress.
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 a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. (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
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because Mr X has appealed to the SEND Tribunal about the content of his child’s EHC Plan. The complaint is therefore outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.
- How the Council decided what to include in the EHC Plan and the content of the EHC Plan itself are inextricably linked. The alleged failings in the assessment process are not separable from the matter appealed to the Tribunal. The matter of costs was also considered by the Tribunal.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it concerns a matter that has been subject to an appeal to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman