Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment. Mr X appealed this decision to a Tribunal and therefore the law says we cannot investigate. We will not investigate Mr X’s further complaint about subsequent delays in the assessment process after the tribunal ruling. This is because the Council has already provided a suitable remedy for Mr X’s injustice here.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to carry out an Education Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment for his son (Y).
2. Mr X also complained the Council delayed in issuing Y with an EHC Plan after the SEND Tribunal ordered it must carry out an assessment.
3. Mr X said the matters caused him financial difficulties and stress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 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.
7. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

10. Mr X complained that in 2023, the Council refused to carry out an EHC Needs Assessment for Y. He said because of this, he had to self-fund a special school place for Y.
11. In early 2024, Mr X appealed to the Tribunal which ordered the Council to carry out the assessment.
12. As outlined in paragraph five, we cannot investigate a complaint if somebody has appealed to the Tribunal about the same matter.
13. Mr X also complained the Council delayed issuing Y’s EHC Plan, after the Tribunal ordered it to carry out the assessment.
14. The Council acknowledged it did not meet its statutory timescale and caused a delay of around seven weeks. To remedy Mr X’s injustice because of this delay, the Council apologised and offered him a symbolic payment of £150. This remedy is appropriate and in line with our guidance on remedies.
15. If we were to investigate, we would not achieve significantly more than this. Therefore, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us investigating.

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Final decision

16. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law says we cannot investigate matters already considered by a Tribunal. We will not investigate the remainder of his complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by us.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman