Wiltshire Council (25 023 044)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 01 Jun 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an Education, Health and Care plan because the complainant can appeal to the Tribunal.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council refused to make changes to his child’s draft Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Mr X says this led to a final EHC Plan which did not meet his child’s needs.
- Mr X also complains about how the Council handled his complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not investigate this complaint. Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman is about the Council’s refusal to make changes to, and include certain provisions within, the EHC plan. The law provides a specific right of appeal against the provisions named, or not named, in an EHC Plan. It is reasonable for Mr X to use this right of appeal. The Tribunal can direct changes to the EHC Plan, we cannot.
- It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to investigate the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is reasonable for him to use his right of appeal to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman