Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment. Miss X has already appealed to the Tribunal about this matter and therefore the law says we cannot investigate. We will not investigate the Council’s previous refusals to carry out assessments because these matters occurred more than 12 months ago. This means the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider this part of Miss X’s complaint now.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council refused to carry out an Education Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment for her son (Y), on numerous occasions.
2. Miss X said this has caused distress and negatively impacted on Y’s education.

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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. 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)
5. 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.
6. 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. Miss X complained the Council refused to carry out EHC Needs Assessments for Y on numerous occasions. Miss X said this caused distress and delayed Y’s access to additional support.
10. Miss X made her most recent application for an assessment in October 2024. The Council refused this application and Miss X appealed this decision to the Tribunal.
11. As outlined in paragraph four, we cannot investigate a complaint where someone has appealed to a Tribunal about the same matter.
12. Miss X made three other applications prior to this, dating back to September 2022. Based on the information available, I am satisfied on balance, these were all made more than 12 months before Miss X complained to the Ombudsman.
13. As outlined in paragraph six, we will not investigate matters when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us. I do not consider there to be any good reasons why Miss X did not complain to us sooner and therefore we will not investigate.

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Final decision

14. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has already appealed to the Tribunal about the same matter. We will not investigate the remainder of the complaint because it is late, with no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman