Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the handling of his child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Part of the complaint is late and it was reasonable for Mr X to complain sooner. The remainder of Mr X’s complaint is premature.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has:
• Failed to deliver the provision in his child’s education, health and care (EHC) Plan from 2022 to 2025;
• Failed to finalise the EHC Plan on time;
• Allowed support to lapse due to non-payment;
• Removed provision from his child’s EHC Plan without issuing a formal amendment notice, completing a formal review or issuing a final amended plan; and
• Failed to investigate his Stage 2 complaint.

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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. 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)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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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. Mr X complained to the Council in October 2024 and the Council responded at Stage 1 of its complaints procedure in November 2024. Mr X had 28 days to request an escalation to Stage 2 of the complaints process if he remained unhappy. Mr X requested an escalation of his complaint approximately ten months after receiving the Stage 1 response. The Council refused to investigate his complaint due to the amount of time that had passed. Mr X brought his complaint to the Ombudsman.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints from 2022 to November 2024 because they are late. Mr X could have exhausted the Council’s complaints process and brought his complaint to us sooner.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints about matters that have occurred after November 2024 because they have not been through the Council’s complaints process at Stage 1 and Stage 2. We cannot normally investigate unless we are satisfied the Council’s complaints process has been exhausted by the complainant. I do not consider that to be the case here.
10. Mr X is of the view his complaints should be investigated because they are in relation to ongoing matters, but his most recent complaints relate to a different review cycle of the EHC Plan than the one he complained about in October 2024. If Mr X wants the Council to investigate his most recent complaints, he needs to submit a fresh Stage 1 complaint to the Council and exhaust the complaints process at both stages in accordance with the relevant timescales. If he remains unhappy, he can then bring his complaint to the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because part of it is late and the remainder is premature.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman