The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her child’s Education, Health and Care Plan. This is because it was reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal if she wanted to challenge the content of the plan.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about the Council’s handling of her child’s (Y) Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Mrs X is unhappy with the content of the EHC Plan and how the Council decided it.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 Mrs X’s complaint.
Parents who want to challenge the content of an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions. We expect parents to use this right unless it is not reasonable for them to do so. The Tribunal can order councils to change EHC Plans; we cannot. It was therefore reasonable for Mrs X to use her right of appeal and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to appeal to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman