Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council amending Miss Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan. We do not have the power to investigate the complaint as Ms X has appealed to the Tribunal.

The complaint

Ms X complained that the Council removed the occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and psychological therapies from Miss Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan and failed to ensure some of the provision was delivered. Ms X says that, as a result, Miss Y’s mental health has deteriorated and the Council’s actions have caused distress to them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
2. 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)
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. The courts have established that if someone has appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, was connected to, or could have been part of, the appeal to the Tribunal. (R (on application of Milburn) v Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman [2023] EWCA Civ 207)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Ms X complains on behalf of her daughter, Miss Y, who has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. In early 2025, the Council amended section F of Miss Y’s EHC Plan. Ms X appealed to the Tribunal as she considered the occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and psychological therapy should be reinstated. In her grounds of appeal, Ms X also raised that the Council did not provide psychological therapy after June 2024.
8. We do not have the power to investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s amendments to Miss Y’s EHC Plan. Ms X appealed to the Tribunal so we do not have discretion to consider this complaint. We also do not have discretion to investigate whether the Council ensured the delivery of the provision for psychological therapy after June 2024 as Ms X raised this in her appeal to the Tribunal.
9. We also cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council did not ensure the delivery of the provision in section F that required advice from an occupational therapist or speech and language therapist. Ms X considers this shows the Council should provide direct therapy support. This complaint is not separable from Ms X’s Tribunal appeal as it is about the level of support provided by occupational and speech and language therapists which Ms X is appealing. We therefore do not have discretion to consider this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman