Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not provide the provision detailed in their child’s Education Health and Care Plan and communicated poorly during the Tribunal process. She said this impacted her child’s education and emotional wellbeing. She also complained the Council shared her child’s personal details without her consent. We have ended our investigation because we cannot investigate matters which can be considered by a Tribunal and it is reasonable for Mrs X to take her complaint about data protection to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of her child, Y’s education. Specifically, she complains the Council:

1. communicated poorly during the Tribunal process;
2. wrongly gave Y’s personal details to an organisation without her consent; and
3. did not provide the provision detailed in the Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan from September 2025.

2. Mrs X says this has impacted Y’s education and emotional wellbeing and caused her financial strain.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
4. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.
5. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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.
8. 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)
9. This means that if a child or young person is not attending school, and we decide the reason for non-attendance is linked to, or is a consequence of, a parent or young person’s disagreement about the special educational provision or the educational placement in the EHC Plan, we cannot investigate a lack of special educational provision, or alternative educational provision.
10. The period we cannot investigate starts from the date the appealable decision is made and given to the parents or young person. If the parent or young person goes on to appeal then the period that we cannot investigate ends when the Tribunal comes to its decision, or if the appeal is withdrawn or conceded. We would not usually look at the period while any changes to the EHC Plan are finalised, so long as the council follows the statutory timescales to make those amendments.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

13. Mrs X appealed to the Tribunal in May 2025 about the provision in Y’s EHC Plan. She complains about the Council’s conduct during the Tribunal process. As I have explained above, we cannot investigate matters which could be considered by the Tribunal. For this reason, I have not investigated part a of the complaint.
14. Mrs X complains the Council wrongly shared her child’s details with an organisation without her consent. Complaints about data protection are best placed for the Information Commissioner’s Office. I consider it is reasonable for Mrs X to refer this matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office and so I have not investigated part b of the complaint.
15. Mrs X complains the Council did not provide the education provision detailed in Y’s EHC Plan from September 2025. Mrs X had appealed the suitability of the provision set out in the Plan to the Tribunal in May 2025 which, to date, is still ongoing. The Council offered Y provision and Mrs X declined on the basis it was not suitable. I am satisfied the reason Y did not access education from September 2025 is directly linked to matters in Mrs X’s appeal to Tribunal. As I have explained above, if we decide a child not accessing education is linked to the disagreement about the special educational provision in the EHC Plan, we cannot investigate a lack of special educational provision, or alternative educational provision. For this reason, I have not investigated part c of this complaint.
16. I have not investigated part a, b or c of the complaint.

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Decision

17. I have ended my consideration of all parts of Mrs X’s complaint because we cannot investigate matters connected to a Tribunal appeal or the Council’s conduct during the appeal’s process and it is reasonable for Mrs X to take her complaint about data protection to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman