Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council managed her child’s education. We cannot investigate issues which are not separable from Miss X’s appeal to a tribunal and part of her complaint is made late.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council left her child with unsuitable education for more than two years.

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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. 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)
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. In February 2024, the Council issued a final Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for Miss X’s child, naming a new school. Miss X disagreed with the contents of the EHC Plan, including the school named, so appealed to the SEND Tribunal.
9. I cannot investigate the contents of the EHC Plan, including the school named in Section I. This is because Miss X used her right of appeal against this decision to the SEND Tribunal. The education provision in place for Miss X’s child while the Tribunal considered the appeal is not separable from the appeal itself.
10. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her child’s education provision prior to February 2024 because this complaint is late and I see no good reason why Miss X could not have complained sooner.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot investigate issues which are not separable from her appeal to a tribunal and part of her complaint is made late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman