Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a lack of suitable educational provision for her son, Y. This is because she appealed to the SEND Tribunal and so her complaint is outside our jurisdiction. The other matters she complained about are not separable from her Tribunal appeal, or were brought to us late.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council did not ensure her child, Y, had an educational provision that suited his needs. She also made additional complaints around Y’s annual reviews, a personal budget and various communications with her and Y.
2. Mrs X also complained that her complaint was not considered by someone who was independent of the events which occurred.
3. Mrs X appealed her case at the SEND Tribunal, incurring various costs. She wants the Council to reimburse these costs. She also wants an apology and compensation for the distress caused to her and to Y.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. 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.
7. Some parents will incur significant legal and expert fees during the appeal process. We cannot investigate this as the Tribunal has powers to consider and/or award costs as part of the appeal. (The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008/2699, Rule 10) 
8. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

11. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the school named in Y’s EHC Plan. Mrs X has appealed to the SEND Tribunal and the law says we cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter.
12. Neither can we consider whether the Council obtained the appropriate reports, carried out appropriate consultations, or caused the complainant to incur costs. That is because these are matters which Mrs X could have brought to the SEND Tribunal.
13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s other complaints that are separable from those considered by the SEND Tribunal. Mrs X complained to the Council over 18 months ago and received a prompt response. Therefore these complaints are late and Mrs X has given no good reason why she could not have complained to us earlier.
14. Further, we will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how her complaint was handled by the Council, because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

15. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she appealed to the SEND Tribunal and so her complaint is outside our jurisdiction. The other matters she complained about are not separable from her tribunal appeal or were brought to us late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman