Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council secured the content of her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care Plan from July 2023. Part of the complaint is late, and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate. Miss X had a right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal for part of the complaint, and it was reasonable to expect her to do so. We cannot investigate matters after February 2025 because Miss X used her right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council:
1. failed to deliver the content of her child, Y’s, Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan to them between 2023 and 2025;
2. failed to provide suitable alternative provision under its section 19 duties when Y became unable to attend school from July 2023; and
3. failed to communicate with her effectively.
2. Miss X said the matter caused her distress, frustration, and uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
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.
6. 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).
7. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Late complaints

10. Miss X said Y was out of education from July 2023. She said the Council arranged some alternative provision in November 2023.
11. Miss X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman in June 2025. Miss X complained about matters she was aware of dating back to 2023. Therefore, some of the issues complained about are late.
12. Part of the reason the complaint was late was because the Council delayed sending a stage two response. Miss X asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two in February 2025. The Council did not respond until June 2025. We will therefore exercise discretion to consider matters 12 months before February 2025 when Miss X asked the Council to escalate her complaint – back to February 2024.
13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaints about issues before February 2024. Miss X could have brought the complaints to the Ombudsman sooner. The law says we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. I have seen no good reasons Miss X could not have complained sooner, and so we will not investigate.

Matters between February 2024 and February 2025

14. In February 2024 the Council made a new Final EHC Plan for Y. It named a mainstream school in section I.
15. In August 2024 the Council made another final EHC Plan for Y. It named the same mainstream school in section I.
16. The Council wrote to Miss X on each occasion and informed her of her right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
17. Miss X did not use her right to appeal the content of either of the EHC Plans to the SEND Tribunal.
18. Miss X disagreed with the named school in section I of Y’s EHC Plans and the educational provision being made available to Y. Miss X did not believe the school was suitable for Y. The reason Y did not receive the content of the EHC Plan was due to a disagreement about the suitability of the school.
19. Only the Council or the SEND Tribunal can change the named school in section I. The Ombudsman cannot instruct the Council to change the named school.
20. Because the Council informed Miss X about her right to appeal the content of the EHC Plans to the SEND Tribunal, it was reasonable to expect her to use that right at any time after she received a final EHC Plan.
21. The issues relating to Y’s educational provision and the delivery of the EHC Plan are too closely linked to the matter that Miss X could have taken to the Tribunal. Consequently, we will not investigate Miss X’s complaint.

After February 2025

22. The Council made a further final EHC Plan for Y in February 2025. Miss X appealed the content of the EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal.
23. Because Miss X used her right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal, we cannot investigate matters after February 2025. This is because the reason Y is not receiving the full content of the EHC Plan is too closely linked to the matter appealed to the SEND Tribunal (the named school in section I) and the law says we cannot investigate.

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Final decision

24. We will not investigate part of Miss X’s complaint because it is late. We will not investigate matters between February 2024 and February 2025 because Miss X had a right to appeal to a tribunal, and it was reasonable to expect her to do so. We cannot investigate the remainder because Miss X used her right to appeal to a tribunal, and the law says we cannot investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman