Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about school fees Ms X incurred, after the Council named a different school in an Education, Health, and Care Plan. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision to a Tribunal, and the law does not allow us to investigate. Additionally, we will not investigate earlier complaints about education provision. This is because these are late and there are no good reasons why it could not have been raised sooner.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council refused to reimburse her for school fees she paid to a school that was later named on her child (Y’s) Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. She says the Council’s decision has put her family under immense financial pressure, and wants the fees reimbursed.

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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. The courts have said that where someone has sought a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, we cannot investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
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 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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Ms X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. In part of her complaint Ms X said in early 2023, Y was out of school, and the Council did not provide them with education. That is a late complaint and there are no good reasons it could not have been raised to us sooner.
9. In July 2023, the Council named School A on Y’s EHC plan. Ms X lodged an appeal with the Tribunal, about the Council’s decision, saying she believed it was in her child’s best interests to attend School B. School B, unlike School A, is a fee-paying school.
10. The appeal was heard in February 2024 and resulted in School B being named on the EHC Plan. Mrs X complained to the Council in December 2024; to have the school fees she had paid during the appeal period reimbursed. Case law, including the law at paragraph three says we cannot investigate this part of Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the courts have established that if someone has appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, was connected to, or could have been part of, the appeal.
11. The period we cannot investigate starts from the date the appealable decision is made and given to the parents or young person. If the parent or young person goes on to appeal, then the period that we cannot investigate ends when the appeal is conceded.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate most of Mrs X’s complaint, because she has already appealed the Council’s decision and the law does not allow us to investigate. Other parts are late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman