The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about her child’s education. Ms X has appealed to a tribunal which places the matter outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
The complainant, Ms X, complained the Council failed to provide her child with a suitable education when they stopped attending 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.
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) 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
Ms X’s child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Ms X disagreed with the content of the EHC Plan and appealed to the SEND Tribunal.
We will not start an investigation into Ms X’s complaint.
Where appeal rights have been used, the matter is outside our jurisdiction from the point at which the appeal rights were available until the Tribunal issues its decision. This exclusion applies to the matter appealed and anything closely related.
The reason Ms X’s child is out of school is directly linked to the appeal. Ms X does not think the school is suitable - the Council disagrees. We could not therefore separate the education provided from the matter appealed.
Ms X’s complaint is not one we can consider.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because she has appealed to a tribunal which places the matter outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman