Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (23 020 430)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Apr 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the education provision for the complainant’s child. This is because the complainant has appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). This places the matter outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, Miss X, says her child is not receiving the provision in their Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). The EHC Plan names a type of school. This is a decision Miss X has appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). The Council has said it will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because of her ongoing appeal.
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. 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)
- 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 and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint.
- When an appeal has been made, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to consider related matters from the point at which the appeal rights were available, to the point at which the SEND Tribunal issues its decision. The lack of provision is linked to the EHC Plan which only names a type of school. That has been appealed to the Tribunal. The provision available while the appeal is ongoing is not therefore something we can consider.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has appealed to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman