Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council failing to provide suitable education for Miss X’s child. This is because she has used her right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to provide appropriate education for her child from 2022 to May 2025.

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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.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Complaint 23017892 confirmed the Council issued an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for Miss X’s child in August 2023. It agreed an early review on the EHC Plan in January 2024.
8. Miss X raised a complaint to the Council in June 2024 for issues stated in paragraph 1 above. The Council’s final complaint response was dated October 2024 and Miss X’s email response to the Council said she had “no choice but to appeal”.
9. Miss X appealed to the Tribunal and this resolved matters in May 2025.
10. We cannot look at the loss of education pending the appeal outcome as this is linked to the suitability of her child’s placement and the subject of the appeal. We have no power to look at ay complaint that overlaps with a SEND Tribunal appeal. There is no discretion available to us.
11. The Council considered the placement was suitable so the S19 duties did not apply.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has used her right to appeal to the Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman