Summary: We cannot investigate the Council’s decision on the placement it would name in an Education, Health, and Care Plan. This is because Mrs X has already appealed the Council’s decision, and the law does not allow us to investigate here. Nor will we investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delays in issuing the plan, because there is no significant injustice, and the Council has apologised for delays here.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said the Council acted unlawfully during the assessment of her child (Y) for an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan and denied naming an appropriate placement for Y. Mrs X said the Council also delayed issuing a final EHC Plan and its actions have caused her unnecessary stress.

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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 courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
4. 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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an EHC Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the SEND Tribunal or the Council can do this. 
8. Ms X complained because the Council had not issued a final EHC Plan, in line with her request for a specific placement for Y. She also said the Council delayed issuing Y’s plan.
9. We cannot investigate the Council’s decision-making on the placement it named in Y’s final EHC Plan. Mrs X appealed this decision, and the law does not allow us to investigate where a person has already sought an alternative remedy. In any case, we could not direct the Council to name a placement in line with Mrs X’s wishes.
10. Mrs X was unhappy the Council delayed issuing a final EHC Plan. The Council provided information saying it issued a final EHC Plan in mid-June 2024, which was a delay of just under two weeks from when it should have issued a final EHC Plan. We will not investigate here, because Mrs X has not suffered a significant injustice and the Council has apologised, which is an appropriate response.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we have no jurisdiction to consider her main complaint. And otherwise there is no significant injustice in the remaining parts of her complaint we could consider.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman