Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the educational support provided to his child. Most of Mr X’s complaint is late with no good reason for us to now investigate. We cannot consider complaints about what happens in schools. It was also reasonable for Mr X to use his right of appeal which he has now exercised. This places more recent matters outside our jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complained the Council refused to assess his child for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) and failed to provide appropriate support. Mr X says this led to his child struggling to access education.

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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 council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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)
5. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
6. 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)
7. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

10. The Council first refused to assess Mr X’s child for an EHC Plan in 2022. Mr X says the Council then failed to provide his child with appropriate support. The Council refused a further request for assessment which Mr X appealed to the Tribunal in February 2025. The Tribunal issued a decision in October 2025 which said the Council should carry out an assessment. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in December 2025.
11. We will not start an investigation into Mr X’s complaint.
12. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. Most of Mr X’s complaint is therefore late. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are good reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. Mr X could have complained much earlier and there is no good reason for us to now investigate.
13. Even without the time issue set out above, we would not investigate. This is because:
• Parents who want to challenge a council’s decision not to assess their child for an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. We expect parents to use that right unless it was unreasonable for them to do so. This is because the Tribunal can order a council to carry out an assessment – we cannot. I consider it was reasonable for Mr X to appeal the Council’s 2022 decision not to assess his child for an EHC Plan. This is because the Tribunal could have given Mr X the outcome he wanted.
• While Mr X feels the Council should have done more after its refusal to assess, the responsibility for his child’s day-to-day education rested with their school. We have no powers to look at complaints about what happens in schools.
14. Turning to more recent events, Mr X appealed the Council’s 2025 decision not to assess his child for an EHC Plan. When a parent has appealed, we have no powers to consider the matter appealed, or any directly related matters, such as the Council’s decision-making. We cannot therefore consider this part of Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because much of it it is late and there is no good reason for us to now investigate. It was also reasonable for Mr X to appeal, and we cannot consider complaints about what happens in schools. Mr X has now used his right of appeal which places more recent matters outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman