Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to make appropriate educational provision for the complainant’s daughter. Investigation would not lead to a different outcome and is not therefore warranted.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains that the Council failed to make appropriate educational provision for her daughter.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X’s daughter has special educational needs and an Education Health and Care (EHC) plan, which was issued in 2024. Miss X complains that her child has been without educational provision since her daughter left nursery in 2023. She says this has had a negative impact on her health and caused her financial loss, in addition to the impact on her daughter’s education.
6. The correspondence shows that Miss X appealed against the content of her daughter’s EHC plan. She subsequently complained to the Council that it had failed to make provision for her daughter. The Council upheld her complaint. It accepted that it had failed to make alternative educational provision for her daughter and had failed to secure the provision set out in her EHC plan.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. We will not normally investigate complaints which have already been upheld, as is the case here. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. The question for us in these circumstances is whether our intervention is likely to lead to a different outcome.
8. The Council’s final complaint response sets out reasonable steps to address the matters Miss X has raised. It says it will devise a package of education and aim to engage a tutor. In recognition of the provision Miss X’s daughter has missed, it has offered a financial remedy amounting to £4200, based on an amount of £1200 for each relevant school term.
9. The symbolic remedy the Council has offered is within the range the Ombudsman would expect in the circumstances of the case. It is unlikely that investigation would result in different findings or a significantly different outcome. Our intervention is not therefore warranted.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman