The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about naming the right school to meet Mr X’s child’s special educational needs. Mr X has used his right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal about the school named by the Council.
The complaint
Mr X said the Council failed to name a specialist school on his child’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan despite having identified the child needed a specialist school in 2020.
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 complaint concerns the naming of the correct school placement for Mr X’s child. The school named in an EHC Plan is a matter that carries the right of appeal to a SEND Tribunal. The method by which the Council reached its decision is not separable from the decision itself.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matter complained of is not separable from the matter where Mr X has used his right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman