Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about her child’s Education, Health and Care plan. This is because part of the complaint is late and Ms X has a right to appeal to the Tribunal. The Council has also remedied the injustice during the complaints process.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council:
• did not provide suitable education for her child from February 2023 until April 2024.
• failed to provide her child with occupational therapy between 2023 and 2024, including the provision ordered by the Tribunal.
• failed to carry out her child’s 2024 annual review and delayed the 2025 annual review.
• issued an inadequate draft Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan in January 2026 and wrongly removed occupational therapy provision.
• did not pay alternative education providers.
• did not communicate with her effectively and did not handle her complaint well.
• breached data protection laws.
2. Ms X says these repeated failures have caused stress and uncertainty for her and her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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.
6. 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)
7. 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)
8. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
9. We will not usually investigate complaint handling if we are not investigating the rest of the complaint. This is because there is not usually enough injustice to justify us doing so. We collect information about particularly poor complaint handling practice and report this back to organisations. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34B(8))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

12. The Council issued the final Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan for Ms X’s child in 2023. Ms X appealed to the Tribunal. The Tribunal proceedings ended on 9 January 2024, and the Tribunal ordered the Council to provide occupational therapy (OT) for Ms X’s child. Ms X complained to the Council in June 2025, and to the Ombudsman in January 2026. I cannot consider matters which were considered by, or closely linked to, the Tribunal appeal.
13. I will also not investigate matters arising from before January 2024 because Ms X complained to us more than 12 months later and I have seen no good reason to exercise discretion to consider these matters now.
14. The Council investigated Ms X’s complaints at Stage 1 and Stage 2 of its complaints process between July and September 2025. The Council explained it could not consider events before January 2024 because these were either late complaints or closely related to the Tribunal proceedings.
15. The Council offered Ms X £2,400 for the loss of learning for her child between February 2024 and April 2024. I will not investigate this matter because the Council offered an appropriate financial remedy during its complaints process. A further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
16. The Council admitted fault because the OT provision was not in place as required by the Tribunal and promised this would start from September 2025. The Council offered Ms X £3,778.75 to recognise the loss of OT provision between February 2024 and July 2025. I will not investigate this matter because the Council offered an appropriate financial remedy during its complaints process. A further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
17. The Council admitted fault because it had not conducted the annual review for Ms X’s child in 2024. The Council also recognised the 2025 annual review was delayed. It offered Ms X £1,700 for the frustration and uncertainty caused. I will not investigate this matter because the Council offered an appropriate financial remedy during its complaints process. A further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
18. The Council issued a draft EHC Plan in January 2026. I will not investigate Ms X’s concerns about the content and quality of the draft EHCP. If Ms X is unhappy with the final EHCP when it is issued, she can appeal to the Tribunal.
19. The Council investigated Ms X’s complaint that alternative education providers had not been paid. The Council explained there was a difference between the amount requested by the provider and the amount agreed. The Council resolved the issue, paid the bill and apologised. I will not investigate this matter because the Council investigated and resolved this issue during its complaints process. A further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
20. The Council upheld Ms X’s complaint about poor communication and apologised. It also offered £500 to Ms X’s child for delays, poor communication and missed provision. I will not investigate this matter because the Council has offered an appropriate financial remedy and an apology during its complaints process. A further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
21. The Council apologised to Ms X for the time and trouble she had to take in pursuing her complaint. I will not investigate the Council’s complaints handling. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints handling when we are not investigating the substantive matter. The Council has already offered Ms X an appropriate financial remedy during its complaints process.
22. Ms X complained the Council breached data protection rules. There are no good reasons for me to investigate this matter. Ms X should complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Final decision

23. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about issues relating to the Education, Health and Care plan for her child. This is because part of the complaint is late and Ms X has a right to appeal to the Tribunal. The Council has also remedied the injustice during the complaints process

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman