The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about an education health and care needs assessment. The complainant has used her right to appeal to a tribunal and this places the matter outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained the Council was at fault when it declined to carry out an education health and care needs assessment for her son.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (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.
The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X’s son has special educational needs. The Council twice declined to carry out an education health and care needs assessment. Mrs X appealed the decision to the SEND Tribunal and the Council has now agreed to an assessment.
The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint because Mrs X used her right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal. By law, this places all matters which relate to the decision not to carry out the assessment outside our jurisdiction. We have no discretion to consider Mrs X’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because she has used her right to appeal to a tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman