Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council failed to provide education for her child. This is because Miss X has used her right of appeal to the Tribunal and the law says we cannot investigate these matters.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to provide an education for her child (Y) who has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan, from November 2024 to September 2025. Miss X says this caused her family emotional distress and financial strain.

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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 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)
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.
5. 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

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

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My assessment

8. Miss X says her child did not attend school from November 2024 to September 2025. She says the Council failed to provide an education for Y.
9. The Council issued Y an EHC Plan in February 2025 and named the school where Y was already on roll. Miss X appealed against the setting named in the EHC Plan.
10. 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).
11. This means that if a child or young person is not attending school because of a disagreement about the special educational provision or placement in an EHC Plan, we cannot investigate the provision of education, including alternative education.
12. In this case, Miss X disagreed with the school named in her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan and appealed the placement (Section I) to the Tribunal. She also says the Council failed to provide her child with an education. These matters are closely linked. Therefore, the law does not allow us to investigate Miss X’s complaint.
13. Miss X is also unhappy with the Council’s communication. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s communication if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

14. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has used her right of appeal to the Tribunal and the law says we cannot investigate these matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman