Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to carry out an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment or the Councils’ actions in relation to his daughter’s personal budget. These complaints are late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to accept this late complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to carry out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) for his daughter, C, when he asked for it in 2021 and 2022. He complained the Council issued an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan which did not consider the Speech and Language Therapy C needed. He says this meant there was a delay in C receiving the therapy. He says the Council’s actions have meant he has had to fund this therapy privately and feels C has not progressed as well as she could have done academically.
2. Mr X also complains the Council has not provided the personal budget he sought in 2023.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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.
7. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Mr X asked the Council carry out an EHCNA for C on three occasions in 2021 and 2022. The Council decided not to carry out an assessment. Mr X appealed the Council’s decision in December 2022. Following the appeal the Council agreed to carry out an assessment.
11. The Council issued an EHC plan in 2023. Mr X raised objections to this plan as the Council had not considered the Speech and Language assessment. It carried out a further review in late 2023 and issued a new EHC plan.
12. In September 2023 Mr X asked a personal budget for C which the Council agreed to.
13. Mr X raised a complaint to the Council and in early 2024 it acknowledged it had delayed providing C with Speech and Language therapy for two terms in 2023. Further it acknowledged it had agreed to a personal budget to allow Mr X to arrange Speech and Language provision and noted it had paid Mr X in January 2024. The Council offered to provide compensation at the personal budget rate for the two terms of therapy C had missed and pay £300 the time and trouble this had caused Mr X. The Council explained that Mr X could escalate his complaint to the ombudsman if he remained dissatisfied.
14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council handled his EHCNA requests or the delay in issuing an EHC plan which resulted in a delay in C receiving Speech and Language Therapy. Mr X has been aware of these problems since 2023. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events they are complaining about. There is no good reason why Mr X could not have brought these complaints sooner.
15. Even if there was good reason, we could not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to assess. Mr X had a right of appeal to the tribunal which he used in 2022.
16. Mr X says the Council has failed to provide any Speech and Language Therapy since he raised his complaint. He has not raised this issue with the Council and therefore it is too soon for the Ombudsman to investigate. Should Mr X remain dissatisfied after raising the issue with the Council he can bring a new complaint to the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because his complaint is late, and we do not consider there to be good reason to exercise discretion.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman