Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the college named in his daughter’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Mr X has used his right of appeal to a tribunal and so the complaint is outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complained the Council has named an unsuitable college in his daughter’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Mr X says this means his daughter is not receiving a suitable education and wants the Council to change the EHC Plan.

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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. 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.
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint.
8. Parents who are unhappy with the content of their child’s EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. Once a parent has used that right, the matter appealed, or anything closely linked is outside our jurisdiction with no discretion.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has used his right of appeal. This places the complaint outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman