The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council failed to obtain an Occupational Therapy report as a part of an Education, Health and Care needs assessment of her child, Y. This is because Miss X has made an appeal to the SEND Tribunal about the content of Y’s Education, Health and Care Plan, and the law says we cannot investigate.
The complaint
Miss X complained the Council failed to obtain all relevant reports when it assessed her child, Y, for an Education, Health and Care Plan.
Miss X said she had to pay for a private assessment which caused her financial loss. Miss X also says the matter has caused her distress and frustration.
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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X has a child, Y. Miss X asked the Council to assess Y for an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. The Council completed an assessment of Y and subsequently made an EHC Plan.
Miss X disagreed with the content of Y’s EHC Plan and appealed to the SEND Tribunal.
Miss X also complained to the Council. She said it had failed to consult an occupational therapist (OT) during the assessment process. She said she had to commission her own OT report. Miss X asked the Council to pay the cost of the private OT report.
The Council responded and told Miss X it had followed the correct process. It said it would not pay for the private OT report.
Analysis We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because we cannot investigate anything which happened before the right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal arose which could be considered by the Tribunal. This includes the assessment process, such as which reports and documents the Council obtained.
Miss X’s complaint is about the content of Y’s EHC Plan, including the lack of an OT report. Because Miss X has appealed to the Tribunal, and the Tribunal has wide ranging powers to order reports to be completed as it deems necessary (including OT reports), we cannot investigate this complaint as explained at point four of this decision.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has already appealed to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman