Cheshire East Council (25 005 019)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Jul 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to carry out an Occupational Therapy assessment as part of an Education, Health and Care needs assessment. This is because Mrs X has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and it would be reasonable for her to do so.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council has refused to carry out an Occupational Therapy (OT) assessment for her son, Y, as part of his Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. She says this means the EHC plan will not include the support Y needs.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not investigate this complaint. The Council’s decision not to carry out an OT assessment is part of the EHC assessment and planning process. In the event Mrs X believes the decision wrongly influenced the outcome of the assessment and the content of Y’s EHC Plan it would be reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal. The Tribunal can consider whether the Council should have commissioned an OT assessment and they may order the Council to obtain an OT report and amend the Plan as necessary. I have seen nothing to show it would be unreasonable to expect Mrs X to appeal and I will not therefore exercise my discretion to investigate the complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X has the right to appeal to the Tribunal and it would be reasonable for her to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman