Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to carry out an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment. This is because Mrs X has used her right to appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s decision not to carry out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment for her child.
2. Mrs X also says the Council sent an officer to mediation who was not authorised to make decisions.
3. Mrs X says this meant she has had to appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal.
4. Mrs X wants the Council to review its processes and apologise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. A parent has a right of appeal to the Tribunal if the Council refuses to carry out an EHC Needs Assessment.
11. 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to appeal, then the period that we cannot investigate ends when the Tribunal comes to its decision, or if the appeal is withdrawn or conceded.
12. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The matters Mrs X complains about fall within the period described in paragraph 11.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has used her right to appeal to the Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman