Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the advice requested by the Council during the Education, Health and Care Plan process. This is because it is reasonable for Miss X to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) if she is unhappy with her child’s plan.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained the Council refused her requests it seek specific advice while assessing her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Miss X wanted the Council to obtain a full assessment from an Educational Psychologist (EP) and to obtain reports from an Occupational Therapist (OT) and Speech and Language Therapist (SALT).

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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. In this case, the Council has set out its position in response to Miss X’s complaints. It has explained how it considers its actions to have complied with the SEN Code of Practice.
8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint.
9. The consequences of the Council’s decisions are an EHC Plan which Miss X disagrees with. Parents who want to challenge an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to use. We expect parents to use their right of appeal unless it is unreasonable for them to do so. The Tribunal could order the Council to obtain extra reports or to change the plan. We cannot do any of these things. It is therefore reasonable for Miss X to appeal and so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal if she wants to challenge her child’s EHC Plan.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman