Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the naming of a school in her child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because Mrs X used her right of appeal to a tribunal, and the issues she has raised are not separable from that appeal.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision-making process in its naming of a school in her son’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Mrs X says her son was out of education for 15 months.

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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 Tribunal in this decision statement.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council carried out a review of Mrs X’s child’s EHC Plan and consulted with several schools. It issued a final EHC Plan naming a school. Mrs X appealed the contents of the EHC Plan, including the school named, to the SEND Tribunal. The Council issued a further final EHC Plan naming a different school. The Tribunal considered Mrs X’s appeal in January 2025 and ordered the Council to issue an EHC Plan naming another school.
8. I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council named one school over another. This is because Mrs X has used her right of appeal to a tribunal about that decision. The Council’s decision-making process around the naming of the school, and the education provision in place during the appeal process are not matters that are separable from the appeal.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she used her right of appeal to a tribunal and the issues raised are not separable from that appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman