The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to assess Ms X’s child for an Education Health and Care Plan.
The complaint
Ms X said the Council has refused to assess her child for an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan and cancelled a meeting about this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (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 SEND Tribunal in this decision statement.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council’s duty when receiving a request for an assessment of a child’s special educational needs (SEN) is to either agree to assess or to refuse and offer the child’s parent the right to appeal to the SEN Tribunal. I have seen the Council’s letter telling Ms X of her right to appeal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has a right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal it would be reasonable to use.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman