The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council refusing to assess her child for an Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because it was reasonable for Miss X to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Education Needs and Disability).
The complaint
Miss X complains the Council refused her request to assess her child for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Miss X questions how the Council reached its decision and wants it to agree to her request for support. Her child has been out of school for four months and Miss X is worried about the impact of this absence.
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 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
We will not start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint.
Parents who are unhappy with a council’s decision not to assess their child for an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decision. The Council has provided us with evidence which shows it advised Miss X of her appeal right to the Tribunal when it decline to assess her child in late July 2025. The Council repeated this advice to Miss X when it declined to consider her complaint about the same matter in mid-August 2025.
If Miss X wanted to challenge the Council’s decision not to assess her child, then it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal. This is because the Tribunal has the power to order a council to assess a child. That is not something we can do in the Tribunal’s place. An appeal could have given Miss X the outcome she wants, while an investigation by us could not. We will therefor not investigate Miss X’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman