Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the content of her child’s Education, Health, and Care plan. This is because Mrs X used her right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to provide suitable educational provision for her child, delayed assessing and arranging suitable provision and included inaccurate information in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. She says the Council also continued to name a school which could not meet her child’s needs. She says this has caused frustration and stress, and Y has missed out on provision.

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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 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)
4. 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.
5. In R (on application of Milburn) v Local Govt and Social Care Ombudsman & Anr [2023] EWCA Civ 207 the Court said s26(6)(a) of the Local Government Act prevents us from investigating a matter which forms the “main subject or substance” of an appeal to the Tribunal and also “those ancillary matters that may fall to be decided by the Tribunal…such as procedural failings or conduct which is said to be in breach of the [Tribunal] Rules, practice directions or directions or that is said to be unreasonable…”.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mrs X has a child, Y. The Council issued an updated EHC plan in May 2025.
9. Mrs X was unhappy with the named school and appealed the content of the EHC plan to the Tribunal. Mrs X says that Y was unable to attend school and did not receive education or support.
10. We cannot investigate the content of the EHC Plan the Council issued. Mrs X has exercised her right to appeal against it to the Tribunal. The matters Mrs X complains of relate to the setting named and the content of the EHC plan. They are closely linked to matters subject to the Tribunal and we will not investigate them.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has used her right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). We also cannot investigate matters which are closely connected to the appeal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman