The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of an Education Health and Care Plan. This is because the matter is being considered at a Tribunal.
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council has not provided her child, Y, with the support outlined in Y’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan as directed by the SEND Tribunal.
An EHC Plan is a document a child or young person with special educational needs may have. It sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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.
We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal about the same matter. We also cannot investigate a complaint if in doing so we would overlap with the role of a tribunal to decide something which has been or could have been referred to it to resolve using its own powers. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X appealed the contents of Y’s EHC Plan to the SEND Tribunal. The Tribunal directed the Council to make changes to the EHC Plan. The Council then appealed the directions made by the Tribunal. The appeal is ongoing and any investigation by us would overlap with the role of the Tribunal. Therefore, this matter is out of our jurisdiction and so I cannot investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the matter is being considered by a Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman