Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s oversight of a special educational needs advisory service, who restricted Ms X’s access to it. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons we should exercise discretion to consider it now. Nor will we investigate how the Council considered these matters more recently. This is because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to properly oversee and monitor an advisory service it commissions, to provide advice to families of children with special educational needs (SEN). Ms X said the decision meant she was excluded from obtaining important access to advice.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. When a council commissions or arranges for another organisation to provide services, we treat actions taken by or on behalf of that organisation as actions taken on behalf of the council and in the exercise of the council’s functions.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council has a statutory duty to ensure it commissions an advisory service locally, that can provide free, impartial advice, to families of children with SEN. In 2022 the service restricted Ms X’s access to it. In early 2023, Ms X challenged this decision, but the service maintained its position.
8. We will not investigate this decision. This is because a complaint about that decision is late. And while I note Ms X’s stated reasons for why a complaint was not made to us sooner, I am not satisfied this a good reason for me to exercise discretion to consider her complaint.
9. Ms X said the Council did not effectively monitor the service. During the complaint procedure, the Council investigated and accepted there was fault the service did not stipulate a time limit on its decision at paragraph seven. The Council overturned this decision and restored Ms X access to the service.
10. Given the Council’s actions are appropriate and it took corrective action, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating, because we would not achieve any more for Ms X.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons we should exercise discretion to consider it now. Additionally, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating the Council’s recent actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman