Oxfordshire County Council (23 015 538)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Mar 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council did not consider her request for a personal budget. That is because the matter is not separable from her tribunal appeal.
The complaint
- Ms X complained the Council did not consider her request for a personal budget when it reviewed her child’s, Y’s education and Health Care (EHC plan). She said she had lost the opportunity to ask for a personal budget, as the Council had finalised Y’s EHC plan without consideration of her request. She wants the Council to agree to a personal budget so she can arrange the provision specified in Section F of his EHC 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.
- 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
- Ms X said Y was too unwell to attend school. As part of his EHC plan review, she asked the Council to provide a personal budget so she could arrange a package of education other than at school (EOTAS) for Y.
- The Council considered her request before finalising the EHC plan. It did not agree to EOTAS. It emailed Ms X the following month. It said there was no evidence Y’s needs could not be met in any school. The Council said it would deliver Y’s EHC plan through a combination of tutoring, attendance at school and physical activity. It issued a final EHC plan setting out that provision and naming a mainstream school. Ms X appealed to the SEND Tribunal. She subsequently complained to the Council about its decision not to consider her request for a personal budget.
- Ms X has appealed to the SEND Tribunal about the contents of the final EHC plan and her wish for Y to receive EOTAS. Therefore, we cannot investigate her complaint. That is because her request for a personal budget to arrange provision for Y is not separable from the matters she appealed. The Council has confirmed it will consider her request for a personal budget once the SEND Tribunal has concluded.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because the matter is not separable from her appeal to tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman