The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council carried out an Education Health and Care needs assessment. This is because the complainant has used her right of appeal to a tribunal which places the complaint outside of our jurisdiction.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about how the Council carried out a Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child. Mrs X says the Educational Psychologist report was inadequate and the Council refused a reasonable request for therapeutic reports to be commissioned.
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 or a government minister or started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6), 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council carried out an EHC needs assessment for Mrs X’s child and issued a final EHC plan. Mrs X has appealed the contents of the plan to the SEND Tribunal.
I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This because his is because Mrs X appealed the decision not to issue an EHC Plant to the SEND Tribunal. By law, this places all matters which relate to the contents of the final EHC plan. Any injustice caused by any inadequate or non-existent reports would be that the EHC plan does not meet the child’s needs, which is the subject of the appeal in this case. Furthermore, the Tribunal has wide powers to order reports to be completed. The alleged failings in the assessment process are not separable from the matter appealed to the Tribunal. The complaint is therefore outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the matters raised are not separable from her appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman