The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to ensure her son’s (A’s) school made provision for his Education Health and Care Plan requirements. This is because it is unlikely our involvement would add to the investigation carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
Mrs X complained the Council failed to ensure provision required in A’s Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) was made by the school. She said this has been detrimental to A’s education and mental health. She wants the Council to take responsibility for implementing the EHC Plan rather than the onus being on the parents.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X complained the Council failed to ensure that A’s school met the provision required in his EHC Plan. The Council considered Mrs X’s concerns and responded through its three-stage complaint process.
The Council carried out a thorough investigation and identified an approach to address Mrs X’s concerns.
We would be unlikely to achieve a different outcome if we were to investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because our involvement would be unlikely to add to the investigation carried out by the Council or lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman