Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (21 011 188)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Nov 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council not offering alternative education for Mrs X’s daughter or advising her to apply for an Education Health and Care Plan. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate these matters now.
The complaint
- Mrs X said the Council failed to provide alternative education for her daughter when she was unable to attend school. She said it failed to tell her she could apply for an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan until recently.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The matters complained of date from between 2018 and early 2020. During that time, Mrs X approached the Council, another council, and her MP. Her daughter ceased to be of compulsory school age in June 2020. We may consider a late complaint where a person has only become aware of a matter in the previous 12 months, or if they were prevented from complaining to us sooner.
- In this case, Mrs X was aware of her daughter not being able to attend school in 2018. And her daughter ceased to be of compulsory school age more than 12 months before Mrs X complained to us. Moreover, information for parents with children who are out of education and/or may have special educational needs is widely available. Therefore, Mrs X could reasonably have been aware of the possibility of applying for an EHC Plan sooner. Given she was able to complain to two councils and her MP, I also consider she was not prevented from approaching us sooner.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman