Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to secure a school placement for her child. This is because Mrs X appealed the matter to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to secure a suitable school for her child Y to attend from September 2023. She says Y was excluded from school in July 2023 and the Council failed to provide suitable education when Y was out of school.

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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. 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).
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 and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council issued Y’s final Education Health and Care Plan in March 2023 with no school named for Y to attend from September. Mrs X used her right to appeal this point to the SEND Tribunal, thereby placing it out of our jurisdiction.
8. During the annual review, Y’s school said it was unable to meet Y’s needs post 16. This resulted in the placement ending in July 2023. Mrs X says Y was excluded; however, that does not appear to be the case.
9. Any lack of appropriate education once appeal rights were engaged is not separable from the substantive matter being appealed, therefore I cannot investigate this aspect of the complaint either.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it relates to matters for the SEND Tribunal’s consideration.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman