The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Education Health and Care needs assessment process. This is because the complaint is made late and it is reasonable for Miss X to have used her right of appeal to a tribunal.
The complaint
Miss X complains that the Council delayed carrying out an Education Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment for her child and about the contents of the final EHC Plan, including the school named.
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) 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council received a request to carry out an EHC needs assessment for Miss X’s child. It completed its assessment and issued a final EHC Plan in July 2023 I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is made late and I see no good reason why it could not have been made sooner.
Furthermore, Miss X had a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal against the contents of the final EHC Plan. Only the SEND Tribunal can order changes to be made to EHC Plans so it is reasonable to have expected Miss X to have used that appeal right.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is made late and it is reasonable for her to have appealed to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman