Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for her child. This is because Mrs X had the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and it would be reasonable for her to do so. We also cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council refused to carry out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child. She says the Council did not properly apply the law when considering her child’s needs. She also says the Council did not provide appeal information and her child did not receive appropriate support in school.

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 Tribunal in this decision statement.
5. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Parents who are unhappy with a council’s decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions
9. Mrs X asked the Council to carry out an EHC needs assessment for her child. The Council considered her request and decided not to carry out an assessment. Mrs X says she asked the Council how to appeal but did not receive a response. The evidence shows the Council’s decision letter included information about mediation and appeal rights. I am satisfied Mrs X was given this information.
10. If Mrs X wanted to challenge the Council’s decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment, it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal. This is because the Tribunal can order a council to carry out an EHC needs assessment.
11. Mrs X also says her child did not receive appropriate support in school. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools, so we will not investigate this issue.
12. Mrs X is also unhappy with the way the Council dealt with her complaint. But it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X had the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and it would be reasonable for her to do so. We also cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman