Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the adequacy of education and related matters. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply for part of it. We cannot investigate issues before a Tribunal. And it is unlikely we would achieve significantly more than the Council has offered for her complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council failed to provide her child, Y, with an education, discriminated against them and has not met deadlines.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation; or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (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 the Mrs X and the Council’s replies to her.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X says Y’s school placement broke down in June 2022. The Council says it did not know this until March 2023. The Council assessed Y for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan), which it issued in June 2023.
8. The Council issued an amended EHC Plan in February 2024. Mrs X appealed this EHC Plan to the Tribunal.
9. Mrs X complained to the Council in May 2024. In September 2024 it accepted Y had not had a suitable education from June 2023. It offered £4500 as a remedy for her complaint.

Analysis

10. We will not investigate any Council delay in issuing the June 2023 EHC Plan. That delay period finished more than 12 months before Mrs X complained to us. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
11. We cannot investigate if the February 2024 EHC Plan meets Y’s needs as Mrs X appealed to the Tribunal.
12. We will not investigate the adequacy of Y’s education up to July 2024 as the Council’s offer is within our remedies’ guidance.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply for part of it. We cannot investigate issues before a Tribunal. And it is unlikely we would achieve significantly more than the Council has offered as a remedy to her complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman