Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to name a suitable school placement in her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Also, we cannot investigate her complaint the Council failed to arrange alternative educational provision for her child. This is because these matters overlap with a tribunal appeal about her child’s Plan. Other matters complained about are late.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council refused to name a specialist school setting in her child, Z’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). She says, because of this, Z experienced school-based trauma and was unable to attend school for 18 months. Also, she complains the Council refused to include key advice from professionals in Z’s Plan.
2. Mrs X says, during a SEND Tribunal appeal about Z’s EHC Plan, the Council communicated poorly and was not transparent about Z’s case. She complains the Council only carried out limited school consultations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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.
6. 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. Mrs X complains that the Council took six months to issue a draft EHC Plan following an emergency review in January 2024. She says the Council then refused to name a specialist school setting in Section I of Z’s EHC Plan and failed to include key advice from professionals in the Plan. This complaint is late, as Mrs X did not complain to the Ombudsman until November 2025, and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion. For these reasons, we will not investigate the Council’s action before November 2024.
10. Further, the alleged faults in the final Plan are directly linked to Mrs X’s SEND Tribunal appeal about the suitability of the placement named in Z’s Plan. We cannot look at any complaint that overlaps with a SEND Tribunal appeal. This applies from the point the appeal rights were triggered to the date the SEND Tribunal reached its decision in June 2025.
11. For the same reasons, we cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to arrange educational provision while Z was out of school. This matter overlaps with the same SEND Tribunal appeal. Any dispute over provision while Z was not in school is linked to Mrs X’s appeal that the school named in Section I could not meet her child’s need and was against parental wishes.
12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about Council behaviour during the SEND Tribunal process. This includes how it consulted schools or its refusal to arrange updated assessments prior to a Tribunal hearing, including for speech and language. Mrs X could have raised these matters with the Tribunal. The Tribunal has wide powers to order reports be completed. It is reasonable to have expected her to have done so.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to name a suitable school placement in her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan or arrange alternative educational provision for her child. This is because these matters overlap with a tribunal appeal about her child’s Plan. Other matters complained about are late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman