The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s unhappiness with the Council’s management of her child Y’s education, health and care plan. This is because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for Ms X to bring the complaint to us at the time.
The complaint
Ms X complained the Council failed to hold an annual review of her child Y’s education, health and care plan (EHC Plan) between 2020 and 2022.
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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained to the Council in March 2023 because she was unhappy with the Council's management of her child Y’s EHC Plan. Specifically, she was unhappy the Council failed to hold an annual review between August 2020 and November 2022 and delayed issuing a final amended EHC Plan until March 2023. She was also unhappy with the lack of amendments made to the Plan.
The Council acknowledged the delay and apologised for it. The Council offered explanations for why it had failed to keep to statutory timescales and advised it would do so in future. Ms X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman as was unhappy with its response.
The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate events that took place more than 12 months prior to the complainant getting in touch with us, unless there are good reasons for the delay. In this case, the events Ms X is complaining about took place several years ago, it would therefore have been reasonable for Ms X to bring the complaint to us at the time. Presently, there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate events that took place this long ago.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for her to bring the complaint to us at the time.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman