Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to name a school on her child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because she has used her right of appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. It is unlikely investigation into other matters would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council has failed to name a school on her child’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Miss X also complains about how the Council handled a recent review of the EHC Plan.

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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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (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 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. I cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to name a school in her child’s EHC Plan. This is because Miss X has appealed this decision to the SEND Tribunal, placing it outside of our jurisdiction.
8. The Council did acknowledge that an annual review of Miss X’s child’s EHC Plan had been handled poorly due to the handover of the case to a different case officer. The Council apologised and offered to make a payment to Miss X of £1,000 to remedy the distress this caused and in acknowledgment of the time and trouble she has been to. I will not investigate this element of Miss X’s complaint because the Council’s response is proportionate and therefore an investigation would not lead to a different outcome

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about a failure to name a school in her child’s EHC Plan because she has used her right of appeal to a tribunal about the same matter. It is unlikely investigation into other matters would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman