Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the school named in an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because it is reasonable for the complainant to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about the school named in her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Mrs X is unhappy with how the Council reached its decision and says her son is not receiving a suitable education.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review 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 use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We will not start an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.
8. The issue at the heart of Mrs X’s complaint is the school named in her son’s EHC Plan. Parents who are unhappy with the content of their child’s EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. It is the mechanism established by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions. The Tribunal can decide if the EHC Plan should be amended to name Mrs X’s preferred school. That is not something we could do. We could also not separate the Council’s decision-making from the school named which carries a right of appeal. An investigation would not therefore achieve anything, and it is reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to use her right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman