Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s conduct during a tribunal appeal. Doing so would overlap with the role of the Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council provided inaccurate information about its policy on direct payments during a tribunal appeal.

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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 – 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. Mr X appealed against the contents of his child’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan to the SEND Tribunal. He says the Council provided inaccurate information during a hearing to consider his appeal.
8. I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has appealed to the SEND Tribunal. We cannot investigate the way the Council conducted itself during these proceedings, because doing so would overlap with the role of the Tribunal.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because doing so would overlap with the role of the Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman