The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with her child’s education. This is because the complaint is made late.
The complaint
Miss X complains that the Council has named unsuitable schools in her child’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plans and that it delayed carrying out an annual review in 2023.
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) 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 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 issued a final EHC Plan for Miss X’s child in 2019. Miss X appealed the contents of the EHC Plan, including the school named in Section I, to the SEND Tribunal. The Council carried out an annual review in July 2023 and issued an amended final EHC Plan in January 2024, which Miss X again appealed to the SEND Tribunal.
I will not investigate Miss X’s complaints about the EHC Plans issued in 2019 or 2024, or how the Council carried out its annual review in 2023. This is because Miss X’s complaint about these matters is late, and I see no good reason why it could not have been made sooner.
Even if Miss X had complained sooner, we would not have investigated her complaint. This is because she used her right of appeal against the contents of the EHC Plans to the SEND Tribunal. Also, the Council apologised for delays in completing the annual review in 2023 and offered a payment in line with our guidance, so it is unlikely we would have added to the Council’s response to this element of her complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is made late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman