The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the wording in a section of her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. If Ms X disagrees with the content of the plan she has a right of appeal to a tribunal which it is reasonable for her to use.
The complaint
Ms X complains the wording in a section of her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan is unlawful. She wants the Council to remove the unlawful wording from the plan and reissue her child’s EHC plan.
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
We will not investigate this complaint. If Ms X disagrees with the wording in her child’s EHC Plan, she has a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal which it is reasonable for her to use. We could not direct the Council to amend the wording in the EHC Plan, only the Tribunal can do this.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal which it is reasonable for her to use.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman