Summary: We cannot investigate part of Miss X’s complaint about how the Council consulted schools or the decision to name a specific school in her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan because Miss X appealed to a tribunal and the law says we cannot investigate. We will not investigate the remainder of Miss X’s complaint about poor communication or an earlier EHC Plan because an investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome and the injustice claimed is not significant enough.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council:
1. failed to name a school in Y’s final Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan in February 2025 during a phase transfer in line with statutory timescales;
2. later named an unsuitable school in Y’s EHC Plan in July 2025; and
3. failed to communicate with her effectively.
2. Miss X said the matter caused her frustration, distress, and uncertainty.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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. 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)
6. 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)
7. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

February 2025 final EHC Plan

10. Miss X complained the Council failed to name a school in her child’s EHC Plan during a phase transfer. In its complaint response, the Council upheld the complaint and apologised to Miss X.
11. Although Miss X had a right to appeal the content of this EHC Plan to the Tribunal, I exercised discretion to consider the matter because Miss X had a reasonable expectation the Council was processing the updated EHC Plan.
12. However, we will not investigate this complaint. The Council’s apology is sufficient to remedy any uncertainty caused to by the delay in naming a school in section I of Y’s EHC Plan and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
13. In addition, although Miss X said the delay meant Y missed out on potential transition days, the claimed injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman, and we will not investigate this matter.

School consultations and July 2025 final EHC Plan

14. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaints about the Council’s consultations with schools or the decision to name a specific school in section I of Y’s EHC Plan.
15. This is because Miss X appealed the content of the EHC Plan to the Tribunal. The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate a matter which has been appealed to the Tribunal.
16. Because the Tribunal will now consider the suitability of the school named in section I, the Ombudsman has no authority to investigate the decision or the process by which it was reached.

Poor communication

17. Miss X complained the Council failed to respond to her enquiries, calls, and emails. In its complaint response, the Council apologised and explained about improvements it was making to its service.
18. An investigation into this matter is unlikely to lead to a different outcome. Therefore, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

19. We cannot investigate part of Miss X’s complaint because Miss X appealed to a tribunal and the law says we cannot investigate. We will not investigate the remainder of Miss X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to achieve a different outcome and the injustice claimed is not significant enough.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman