The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a needs assessment carried out by the Council. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal about the content of the Education Health and Care Plan the Council produced, and it would have been reasonable for her to do so.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs B, complains that the Council was at fault in the way is assessed her son’s and in producing a flawed Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
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
Mrs B’s son has special educational needs. The Council has assessed his needs and issued an EHCP.
Mrs B is critical of the actions of Council officers throughout the assessment process. She says that, due to fault on the officers’ part, her son’s needs were not properly established. As a result, the EHCP was inadequate. This has caused distress, financial loss and delay in identifying suitable provision. Miss B is also critical of the way the Council has communicated with her throughout the process.
The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint. The key outcome of the fault she identifies is that the EHCP did not meet her son’s needs. we will not investigate complaints about the content of an EHCP, or matters relating to it. This is because a complainant has the right to appeal about these matters to the SEND Tribunal. The Ombudsman expects this right to be used and it would have been reasonable for Mrs B to do so in this case. Matters relating to the Council’s actions in the course of the assessment are not separable from this and do not therefore fall to be investigated.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to use her right of appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman