The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the advice the Council considered during the Education, Health and Care Plan process. This is because it was reasonable for Miss X to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained the Council failed to consider a private Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) report she commissioned. Miss X says this has left her child with an unsuitable Education, Health and Care Plan.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (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.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint.
In this case, the alleged consequence of the Council’s actions is an EHC Plan Miss X contends is unsuitable. Parents who are unhappy with the contents of an EHC Plan have a right of appeal to the Tribunal. It is the mechanism set up by Parliament for parents to challenge such decisions. We expect parents to use their right of appeal unless it is unreasonable for them to do so. The Tribunal could have ordered the Council to obtain or consider extra reports and to change the EHC Plan. This is the outcome Miss X wanted. It was therefore reasonable for Miss X to appeal and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it was reasonable for her to use her right of appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman