Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to provide education to Mrs X’s son since 2018. Part of the complaint is late and part carries appeal rights that it is reasonable for Mrs X to use.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council:
• has not provided a remedy following a 2019 Tribunal ruling that found it had not provided suitable education to her son over the prior three years;
• failed to issue a notice ceasing her son’s Education Health and Care Plan (“EHC Plan”) in 2023/24;
• failed to provide education to her son from 2018 to 2025;
• committed a data breach and;
• handled her complaint poorly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
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:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement,
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to provide a remedy following a 2019 Tribunal ruling is late, and there is no good reason to exercise discretion. I consider Mrs X could have raised a complaint to the Council and then to us in time.
8. Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to issue a notice ceasing her son’s EHC Plan in 2023/24 is late and it remains there is no good reason to exercise discretion. The Council sent Mrs X a proposal to cease in 2023 so Mrs X would have been aware a decision was due. Further Mrs X would have been aware the Council stopped making any provision in 2024 once this was not received. Even if I did exercise discretion, investigation would not lead to a different outcome. The Council has since agreed to issue a notice and provide appeal rights. It has also offered £1000 in compensation. Investigation would not achieve more.
9. Mrs X’s complaint the Council failed to provide education to her son from 2018 to 2025 is late up to October 2024 and it remains there is no good reason to exercise discretion. The period after October 2024 is in time but at that stage the Council had no duty to provide education as Y was 20 and his EHC Plan had ceased. Mrs X now has the right to appeal the decision to cease the EHC Plan and it is reasonable for her to use it. Therefore I will not investigate.
10. The Information Commissioner is better placed to address complaints about the Council’s data handling.
11. It is not a proportionate use of our resources to investigate the Council’s complaint handling, when we are not investigating the substantive matters. Any remaining separable injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because part of it is late and part carries appeal rights.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman