Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s delays in carrying out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for a child. This is because the Council has offered the complainant a suitable remedy and it is reasonable to expect the complainant to appeal to the Tribunal in relation to any concerns they have about the content of the plan.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed her son’s Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment.
2. She says this means it was not available for the schools to consider when she was trying to find a school place. She believes this led to him missing out on a place in a specialist setting.

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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 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The Council carried out an assessment for Ms X’s son. It accepts it did not complete the assessment within the statutory time frames. This meant it was not available when Ms X had to apply for a school place for her son.
9. Ms X feels her son is now in an unsuitable mainstream placement. She says had her son’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan been available before the application deadline he would have a specialist place.
10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. An investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome. The Council has offered Ms X a remedy for the delay that is in line with our guidance. And we cannot consider the content of the EHC plan and make any amendments to this; this is the role of the tribunal. It would be reasonable to expect Ms X to appeal to the tribunal if she is unhappy with the place setting named in her son’s EHC plan.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has offered a reasonable remedy and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman