The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council not amending Miss X’s children’s Education Health and Care Plans as ordered by a Tribunal. The provision required for her children remained a matter for the Tribunal until it reached a final decision as Miss X appealed to the Upper-tier Tribunal after the First-tier Tribunal’s decision.
The complaint
Miss X said the Council failed to amend her children’s Education Health and Care (EHC) Plans as ordered by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Although the First-tier SEND Tribunal ordered the Council to issue EHC Plans for Miss X’s children, she sought to appeal to the Upper-tier SEND Tribunal. That means the matters of what educational provision should be made for her children remained or remains subject to the consideration of the SEND Tribunal until the appeal was or is resolved. It is unclear if the Upper-tier SEND Tribunal has yet considered or accepted Miss X’s appeal. We cannot comment on the educational provision for Miss X’s children between the time of the First-tier ruling and the conclusion of the Tribunal process, when any order took or will take effect.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the matters complained of are closely linked to an ongoing appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman