The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the school named in her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Ms X had a right of appeal to a tribunal and it was reasonable for her to use it.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the school named in her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. She says the school cannot meet her child’s needs. She wants the Council to name her preferred school.
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 law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (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 issued a final amended Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan for Ms X’s child, Y, in February 2024. This plan named school A as Y’s school from September 2024.
Ms X is unhappy with this and wants the Council to name her preferred school, school B.
We will not investigate this complaint. We cannot direct a council to name a specific school in an EHC Plan. Only the tribunal can do this. Once the plan was finalised in February 2024, Ms X had a right of appeal to the SEND tribunal. If she was dissatisfied with the school named in the plan, it was reasonable for her to have used her right of appeal.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she had a right of appeal to a tribunal and was reasonable for her to have used it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman