Summary: We will not investigate Mrs M’s complaint about delay issuing her son B’s education, health and care (EHC) plan because it is too old. We cannot investigate Mrs M’s complaint about B’s education from 17 October 2023 because of her appeal to the SEND Tribunal. That leaves just five weeks we can consider. There is not enough potential injustice here to justify investigation by us.

The complaint

1. Mrs M complains about delay issuing her son B’s education, health and care (EHC) plan and the Council’s failure to arrange alternative education when he was unable to attend school between September 2023 and April 2024.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs M.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council issued B’s final EHC Plan on 17 October 2023. Mrs M complained to us about the delay on 24 April 2025. It is too late for us to consider Mrs M’s complaint about the delay now.
8. Mrs M disagreed with the Plan and appealed to the SEND Tribunal as she wanted B to attend a different school. We cannot consider Mrs M’s complaint about B’s education from 17 October 2023 because of Mrs M’s appeal.
9. This leaves just five weeks for us to consider from 7 September 2023 when B last attended school until 17 October 2023 when the Council issued his EHC Plan which gave Mrs M the right of appeal. There is not enough potential injustice here to justify investigation by us.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs M’s complaint about delay issuing her son B’s education, health and care (EHC) plan because it is too old. We cannot investigate Mrs M’s complaint about B’s education from 17 October 2023 because of her appeal to the SEND Tribunal. That leaves just five weeks we can consider. There is not enough potential injustice here to justify investigation by us.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman