Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Education, Health and Care planning for a child. Mr X has appealed to the Tribunal about the content of the Plan so we cannot investigate this. We will not investigate the Council’s response to his request for a re-assessment of the child’s needs. The Council has upheld his complaint, provided a suitable remedy and acted to improve its service. It is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not respond in a timely way to a request for reassessment of the child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs.
2. Mr X said Y’s EHC Plan has since been amended but still does not meet Y’s needs. He says the matter has caused distress and he will now have to pay for specialist assessments himself, causing financial loss. He wants the Council to re-assess Y’s needs, improve its service and compensate him for the distress caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. 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))

5. 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

6. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X requested a re-assessment of Y’s needs in July 2024. The Council did not respond to the re-assessment request but instead held an early annual review. The Council issued a final amended EHC Plan for Y in January 2025.
9. Mr X has appealed to the Tribunal about the content of the EHC Plan. We cannot investigate when a person has appealed to the Tribunal about the same matter or where the complaint relates to a connected matter which can be considered as part of Tribunal proceedings. Mr X can raise his dissatisfaction with the Council’s assessment of Y’s needs as part to the appeal. If the Tribunal considers additional assessments are needed to determine Y’s needs, it can order these as part of the appeal.
10. We also cannot investigate possible costs for expert fees as the Tribunal has powers to consider and/or award costs as part of the appeal. (The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008/2699, Rule 10)
11. In its response to Mr X’s complaint, the Council upheld that there was a delay responding to his re-assessment request and that it did not provide clear guidance on the matter. The Council has offered an apology, committed to several service improvements and offered a financial remedy for the injustice experienced.
12. We will not investigate this. We would be unlikely to add anything more to the findings the Council has already made, and the financial remedy offered is within our guidelines.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has appealed to the Tribunal about the content of the EHC Plan and an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman