Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council handled an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for her child. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal to a tribunal.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about how the Council handled an Education, Health and Care Need Assessment for her child. Mrs X says this means the Council has not followed the instructions from a previous SEND Tribunal appeal. She says the Council failed to arrange all necessary assessments with health professionals before deciding to refuse to issue an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan).

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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 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. 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

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

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My assessment

7. The Council decided not to issue an EHC Plan for Mrs X’s child.
8. I will not investigate the Council’s decision not to issue an EHC Plan. This is because Mrs X has the right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal and it is reasonable to expect her to use that right. Only the SEND Tribunal can order the Council to issue an EHC Plan. I will not investigate any information the Council did or did not consider when reaching its conclusion because this is not separable from the decision itself. Also, the SEND Tribunal has wide powers to order reports be completed.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council handled an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment for her child. This is because it is reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal to a tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman