The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision relating to an Education, Health and Care Plan for Mrs X’s child. This is because Mrs X appealed the decision to the First-tier Tribunal and the law does not allow us to investigate.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to change her child’s Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. Mrs X also complained about the costs incurred from medical reports.
Mrs X complained that this caused them stress, and she had to take a significant amount of time off work.
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 Tribunal in this decision statement.
Some parents will incur significant legal and expert fees during the appeal process. We cannot investigate this as the Tribunal has powers to consider and/or award costs as part of the appeal. (The Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008/2699, Rule 10)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to make changes to her child’s EHC Plan. Mrs X used her right of appeal to the Tribunal about this decision.
The law is clear that when a parent has appealed to a tribunal, the matter appealed, or anything closely linked, such as the decision-making process, is outside our jurisdiction. We have no discretion in this matter. This exclusion includes any costs Mrs X incurred.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint because Mrs X appealed the decision to the First-tier Tribunal and the law does not allow us to investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman