Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council refusing to assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because it was reasonable for Mrs X to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained the Council has refused her requests it assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Mrs X questions how the Council reached its decisions and wants it to agree to her request.

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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 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)
4. 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

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 will not start an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.
8. Parents who are unhappy with a council’s decision not to assess their child for an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions.
9. If Mrs X wanted to challenge the Council’s decisions not to assess her child, then it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal. This is because the Tribunal has the power to order a council to assess a child. That is not something we can do. An appeal could have given Mrs X the outcome she wants, while an investigation by the Ombudsman could not. We will not therefore investigate Mrs X’s complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman