Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about special educational provision. Some of the complaint is late, and for the remainder Mr Y appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Ms X, on behalf of Mr Y, complained about special educational provision made available to him throughout his childhood.
2. Ms X also said the Council had not handled Mr Y’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan properly, with special educational provision not included.
3. Ms X said this caused distress and has prevented Mr Y from achieving his educational goals.
4. Ms X wants the Council to extend Mr Y’s EHC Plan and provide funding for special educational provision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
7. 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)
8. 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

9. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

11. Ms X said Mr Y did not receive suitable education and therapeutic support throughout his childhood. This has continued into adulthood, with Mr Y’s EHC Plan not reflecting his needs.
12. We cannot investigate the part of Ms X’s complaint about special educational provision during Mr Y’s childhood. This part of the complaint is about events older than 12 months ago.
13. The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence and reach a sound decision. In older cases we also may not be able to achieve a meaningful remedy because too many circumstances have changed. We are often unable to be able to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.
14. We also cannot investigate the part of Ms X’s complaint relating to the content of Mr Y’s EHC Plan. Mr Y appealed to the Tribunal which considered the matter, and so the law prevents us from investigating.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because some of it is late and, for the remainder, he appealed to the Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman