Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council delayed naming a school in her child’s Education Health and Care Plan. This is because it was reasonable for Miss X to have appealed to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council delayed issuing a final Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for her child, Z. She says that between September 2023 and January 2024, Z only received one hour of education, and from January 2025, Z had to attend a school that could not meet their needs.

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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) 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. Miss X applied for an EHC needs assessment for Z in November 2023. The Council issued a final EHC Plan in March 2024, naming a type of school. The Council issued a further amended EHC Plan in June 2025, naming a school.
9. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her child’s education provision between September 2023 and January 2024. This is because this element of her complaint is late, and I see no good reason why she could not have complained about this sooner.
10. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council’s decision to name a type of school in Z’s final EHC Plan meant that Z’s school did not meet her needs. This is because Miss X had a right of appeal against this decision to the SEND Tribunal that it was reasonable for her to have used.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to have appealed to the SEND Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman