Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to make appropriate educational provision for the complainant’s son and its response to her subsequent complaint. This is because we would not add anything significant to the outcome of the Council’s consideration of the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council failed to make appropriate educational provision for her son and has failed to recognise the impact of this on her and her son’s emotional and mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X’s son has special educational needs and an Education Health and Care Plan. Between August 2022 and October 2023, he was not attending school, although he was on roll at a mainstream school for most of the period.
6. Miss X complained to the Council that it had failed to provide suitable education throughout the period. The Council has upheld her complaint, apologised and offered a financial remedy. Miss X believes the remedy the Council has offered does not reflect the impact the matter has had on her son’s mental and emotional health. She also points out the impact if has had on her. She believes the Council should offer a further remedy.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. We do not normally reconsider complaints which have already been upheld, as is the case here. The remedy the Council has offered is reasonable, and within the range we would normally ask for in the circumstances of the case. Our intervention would not add anything significant to the outcome of the Council’s consideration of the case and is not therefore warranted.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we would not add anything significant to the outcome of the Council’s consideration.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman