Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the contents of his child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because it is reasonable for him to use his right of appeal to a tribunal, and because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about errors in his child’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. He says the Council included inaccurate information and has now named a school that cannot meet his child’s needs.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability – SEND) 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. The Council issued a draft EHC Plan for Mr X’s child. The Council accepted that the draft contained inaccurate information and apologised to Mr X. A final EHC Plan was issued but Mr X remained dissatisfied with the contents, in particular the school named in Section I.
8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the contents of the draft EHC Plan. This is because the Council apologised to Mr X for the inaccurate information contained within it and made amendments. This is a proportionate response, so further investigation would not achieve a different outcome.
9. I will not investigate the contents of the final EHC Plan, including the school named in it. This is because Mr X has a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal, and it is reasonable for him to use that right of appeal.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable for him to use his right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal, and because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman