The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not making special educational needs provision recommended for Miss X’s child in recent reports by experts. The child’s needs are matters subject to an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal after the Council decided not to issue an Education Health and care Plan for the child.
The complaint
Miss X said the Council failed to make the provision recommended for her child in recent reports by experts.
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 decided not to issue an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for Miss X’s child. She has appealed that decision to the SEND Tribunal. That the child is not receiving provision recommended in recent expert reports is not a separable matter from the appeal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the matters complained of are not separable from the appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman