Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the content of an Education Health and Care Plan. The matters Mrs X complained about are closely linked to her appeal to a tribunal and therefore the law says we cannot investigate. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to arrange alternative educational provision. This part of the complaint is premature, and the Council agreed to consider it through its complaint process.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the content of her child’s (Y) Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Mrs X said the EHC Plan does not meet Y’s needs and said this is because the Council:
1. did not seek advice from relevant professionals;
2. did not carry out consultations with relevant schools; and
3. failed to consider Y’s updated circumstances.
2. Mrs X also complained the Council failed to provide Y with alternative educational provision while they were out of school and refused to consider her complaint at stage two of its complaint process.
3. Mrs X said the matters caused distress and negatively impacted on Y’s education.

Back to top

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 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)
6. 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.
7. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

10. Mrs X complained about the content of Y’s EHC Plan. She said it did not meet Y’s needs because of various failures by the Council, as outlined at paragraph one.
11. The Council issued Y’s final EHC Plan in October 2025. Mrs X appealed to the Tribunal about sections B, F and I of the EHC Plan in November 2025.
12. The courts have established that if someone has appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, was connected to, or could have been part of, the appeal to the Tribunal. (R (on application of Milburn) v Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman [2023] EWCA Civ 207)
13. All parts of Mrs X’s complaint, set out in paragraph one, are intrinsically linked to her appeal to the Tribunal. Because the matters are too closely linked, and not separable form the Tribunal proceedings, we cannot investigate.
14. As we cannot investigate the substantive matters of the complaint, we will not investigate the Council’s handling of the complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.
15. Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to arrange alternative educational provision for Y, while they were out of school has not been considered by the Council and is therefore premature. As outlined in paragraph seven, the law says we cannot investigate a complaint where the organisation has not had an opportunity to investigate and reply.
16. Following contact with the Ombudsman, the Council agreed it would investigate and reply to Mrs X about this part of the complaint. Therefore, we will not investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

17. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the matters complained about are too closely linked to her appeal to the Tribunal. We will not investigate the remainder because it is premature.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman