Cambridgeshire County Council (25 018 508)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Mar 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to issue an Education, Health and Care plan. This is because Mrs X has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and it would be reasonable for her to do so.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council refused to issue her child with an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. She says the Council did not properly consider her child’s needs or the available evidence before making its decision.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X asked the Council to assess her child for an EHC plan. The Council completed the assessment and decided not to issue an EHC plan.
- Parents who are unhappy with a council’s decision not to issue their child with an EHC plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions.
- If Mrs X wanted to challenge the Council’s decision not to issue her child with an EHC plan, it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal. This is because the Tribunal has the power to order a council to issue an EHC plan
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and it would be reasonable for her to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman