Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s Education, Health and Care needs assessment process. Any injustice suffered is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council:

• delayed completing her child Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment within statutory timescales;
• failed to secure relevant assessments during its assessment of Y’s needs;
• failed to accurately record information during the assessment process. She says this impacted the outcome of the assessment as the Council decided not to issue an EHC Plan, and;
• made incorrect comments about her participation in the assessment process.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 SEND Tribunal ordered the Council to carry out an assessment of Y’s needs in April 2024. The Council informed Miss X of its decision not to issue an EHC Plan in July 2024. There was only a short delay in the Council issuing this decision, therefore any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
8. I will not investigate matters related to the Council’s assessment of Y’s needs. This is because Miss X had the right to appeal the Council’s refusal to issue an EHC Plan and she has appealed. Any complaints about the assessment process leading to the Council’s refusal are not separable from the appeal.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman