Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has failed to arrange suitable education provision for his child. This is because Mr X has a right of appeal to a tribunal that it is reasonable for him to use and because part of his complaint is made late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council has failed to meet his child’s special educational needs for several years. Mr X says the Council has ignored professional advice and failed to arrange suitable education provision.

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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 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)
4. 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)
5. 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

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

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My assessment

8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his son’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan going back several years. This is because Mr X could have complained to us sooner about these matters.
9. The Council did amend Mr X’s son’s EHC Plan recently and named a school that he feels cannot meet his son’s needs. I will not investigate this element of Mr X’s complaint. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to use his right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. Only the SEND Tribunal can order the Council to make the changes to the EHC Plan that Mr X seeks and the education provision in place for Mr X’s son is not separable from that appeal right.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has a right of appeal to a tribunal that it is reasonable for him to use and because part of his complaint is made late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman