The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in respect of the complainant’s daughter’s special educational needs. This is because the complaint is late and there are no grounds for us to consider it now.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council was at fault in matters relating to provision for her daughter’s special educational needs from the end of 2021 until she made an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) in November 2022.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X’s daughter has special educational needs and an Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan). Miss X complains that the Council was at fault in how it addressed its educational responsibilities towards her daughter throughout 2022.
Miss X has set out four separate, though related, instances of what she regards as fault on the Council’s part. First, she says it has failed to secure the Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational Therapy set out in her daughter’s EHC Plan. As a result, her daughter has missed out on provision to which she was entitled.
The three other aspects of the complaint relate to the process of reviewing and amending the EHC Plan. Miss X says the Council failed to issue the decision notice and proposed amendments within the prescribed timescale following the November 2021 annual review, delayed issuing the amended final EHC Plan and failed to hold the 2022 annual review within 12 months of the previous review, The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late. 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. The matters about which Miss X complained took place in 2021 and 2022. There is no suggestion that she was unaware of them at the time, or of her right to complain to the Ombudsman. There are therefore no grounds for us to investigate them now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and there are no grounds to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman