Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the school named in an Education Health and Care Plan, or a lack of special educational provision. Mrs X has appealed to a tribunal and so the law says we cannot investigate.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to secure the special educational provision set out in her child’s (Y) Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Mrs X wants the Council to name a specialist school in the EHC Plan.
2. Mrs X said the matters caused a negative impact to Y’s mental health and education.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
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.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs X complained Y’s school could not meet their needs and therefore was not providing the provision set out in their EHC Plan. Mrs X said Y was not properly attending school and had an alternative provision package in place.
9. Mrs X asked the Council to name a specialist setting in Y’s EHC Plan but it did not.
10. Mrs X appealed this decision to the Tribunal. The Tribunal will now consider the content of Y’s EHC Plan including the named school in section I.
11. The courts have established that if someone has appealed to the Tribunal, the law says we cannot investigate any matter which was part of, was connected to, or could have been part of, the appeal to the Tribunal.
12. This means that if a child or young person is not attending school, and we decide the reason for non-attendance is linked to, or is a consequence of, a parent or young person’s disagreement about the special educational provision or the educational placement in the EHC Plan, we cannot investigate a lack of special educational provision, or alternative educational provision.
13. For this reason, we cannot investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

14. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has appealed to the Tribunal and so the law says we cannot investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman