Ms B complained because she was unhappy with Torfaen County Borough Council’s (“the Council”) actions in respect of her son’s Individual Development Plan (“IDP”) and in the way the Council handled her complaint.
The Ombudsman noted that Ms B had submitted a formal appeal to the Education Tribunal for Wales. Therefore, the actions of the Council in respect of the IDP were out of jurisdiction for consideration. Matters around complaint handling were mainly considered under the Council’s complaint responses and the Ombudsman decided that nothing further could be achieved. However, the Ombudsman was concerned that following an IDP review meeting, the Council progressed with an informal dispute resolution meeting without Ms B’s awareness. Ms B had been informed of the intention to do this, but it was not made clear on the day.
The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 weeks, apologise to Ms B for not making it clear on the day that the meeting was for both an IDP review and informal dispute resolution.