Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to provide a suitable package of occupational therapy for her child. Mrs X has used her right of appeal to the Tribunal so we cannot investigate some elements. Other elements of the complaint are late.

The complaint

1. Mrs X’s child, Z, has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan).
2. Mrs X complains that, since 2022, the Council has failed to consistently provide occupational therapy (OT) provision for Z. She says, following Z’s annual review meeting in November 2023, the Council unlawfully reduced the number of hours of OT provision to six hours over an academic year.
3. Mrs X says, after the Council upheld two complaints concerning this, the Council and its OT provider met in September 2024 to discuss the issue. She complains that the Council agreed to reassess Z’s OT needs, but not until November 2024, despite the need for it to be completed urgently. Mrs X complains, following the reassessment, the OT provider’s report from November 2024 still only recommended six hours of provision over an academic year.

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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 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)
6. 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)
7. The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) considers appeals against council decisions regarding special educational needs. We refer to it as the SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.

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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. Mrs X complains about Council action from September 2022 when she says the occupational therapist at Z's School left and the Council failed to consistently arrange the package of OT provision in Z’s EHC Plan. Mrs X first complained to the Ombudsman in September 2025, meaning, usually, we would not consider issues that occurred before September 2024. I have seen no good reasons to exercise discretion, meaning I have considered matters from September 2024.
11. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council unlawfully reduced the OT specified in Z’s Plan following the annual review meeting in November 2023. These matters overlap with Mrs X’s SEND Tribunal appeal about the adequacy of the provision in Section F of Z’s Plan. Based on the evidence I have seen, the Council issued Z’s final amended EHC Plan shortly before Mrs X complained to the Council in early September 2024. We cannot investigate from when the appeal right arose (in this case, this was when the Council issued the final Plan) to the Tribunal’s decision.
12. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the adequacy and timeliness of the OT report following the reassessment of Z’s needs in November 2024. The injustice caused by these matters would be that the EHC Plan does not meet Z’s needs, which was the subject of Mrs X’s appeal. The SEND Tribunal has wide powers to order the completion of reports. Mrs X could have referred the matter of ordering a further report to the Tribunal to resolve. We cannot look at matters that overlap with the Tribunal’s role.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to provide a suitable package of occupational therapy for her child. Mrs X has used her right of appeal to the Tribunal so we cannot investigate some elements. Other elements of the complaint are late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman