Wakefield Metropolitan District Council (25 028 445)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 29 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of an Education, Health and Care Plan. Mrs X had the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), and it would have been reasonable for her to do so.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about the Council’s handling of her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. She says the Council failed to consult her preferred schools and finalised her child’s EHC plan without obtaining up-to-date advice.
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 Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Parents who are unhappy with a council’s decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment or with the content of an EHC plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions.
- Mrs X says the Council failed to consult her preferred schools, failed to obtain updated assessments and did not include all the provision her child needs in Section F.
- We will not investigate this complaint. Mrs X had a right to appeal the content of the EHC plan to the Tribunal. It would have been reasonable to expect her to use her right of appeal.
- Mrs X also says the Council refused her complaint. As we are not investigating the substantive complaint, we will not investigate this issue separately.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X had the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) and it would be reasonable for her to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman