Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint her child has not received a full-time education since 2022. The early part of the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council has provided support since the start of 2024.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to ensure her child, Y, has received a full-time education since 2022. She said the Council knew about Y’s limited attendance in January 2024 after Y’s school applied for an Education, Health and Care Plan. She said the Council agreed to sport provision but delayed in arranging it. She said it also agreed to provide alternative provision but had not yet put this in place. Ms X said the Council’s actions had caused Y to fall behind academically. She said it had also meant she could no-longer work.
2. Ms X wants the Council to set up alternative provision as agreed, provide a remedy for the missed provision and for the Council to have better oversight of pupils on part-time timetables.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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)
6. 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.
7. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council has not provided Y a full-time education since 2022. We expect a person to complain to us within twelve months of becoming aware of the matter. Ms X did not complain to us until December 2024, therefore her complaints about the Council’s actions from 2022 until December 2023 are late. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate these now. It would have been reasonable for Ms X to complain to us sooner if she was unhappy with the lack of education.
11. The Council’s complaint response indicates that from January 2024 it was in contact with Y’s school about the provision in place. It reviewed this in March 2024, which showed a decrease in Y’s attendance. The Council said it agreed to provide sport provision to supplement Y’s attendance at school. As Y’s attendance did not improve, it started a reintegration plan in May. Alongside this the Council issued a final EHC Plan for Y and told Ms X of her appeal rights. The Council said at the end of June 2024, it became apparent the reintegration plan was not working, and it agreed to arrange alternative provision to support Y’s return to school. It said it confirmed this with Ms X in August 2024.
12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council has not ensured Y received a fulltime education from January 2024. The Council’s complaint response confirms it was satisfied there was no medical reason for Y not to attend school and there was a school place available for Y to access. It has taken steps to address Y’s non-attendance with the school and kept this under review. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
13. In addition, the Council issued a final EHC Plan for Y in May 2024. If Ms X disagreed with the provision, or named school specified in that EHC Plan then she could have appealed to the SEND Tribunal. Therefore, we will not consider the provision the Council put in place between May 2024 and July 2024.
14. Ms X complained that from September 2024, the Council has not arranged alternative provision after it accepted it was not reasonable for Y to access the school named in his final EHC Plan. The Council has not investigated this complaint yet, therefore we will not consider it. Once Ms X has exhausted the Council’s complaint process, she can return to us.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because most of it is late, and there is not enough evidence of fault in the rest of her complaint to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman