Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s choice of placement because the complainant has appealed to the Tribunal and we cannot achieve the outcome she wants.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains on behalf of her son, Mr Z, that the Council disagreed with her choice of placement for Mr Z.

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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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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 Tribunal in this decision statement.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mr Z has an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan maintained by the Council. Ms X wants Mr Z to attend College B until he is 25 years of age. Ms X says the Council is refusing to obtain a place or even consult with College B despite it being parental preference.
9. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has appealed the contents of Mr Z’s EHC Plan to the Tribunal. We cannot direct the Council to name a placement on Mr Z’s EHC Plan. Only the Tribunal can direct the Council to do that. We cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has appealed to the Tribunal and we cannot achieve the outcome she wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman