Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the content of the complainant’s daughter’s Education Health and Care Plan and her educational placement. This is because the complainant had the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) about these matters and it would have been reasonable for her to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mrs X, complains that the Council is at fault in declining to place her daughter at the school of her choice, and in failing to incorporate reports she has obtained privately in her Education Health and Care (EHC) plan.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X’s daughter has special educational needs and an EHC plan. Mrs X believes the school she attends is not appropriate for her and wants a place at a specialist school. She complains that the Council has not offered her a specialist placement.
8. Mrs X says she has obtained professional reports relating to her daughter’s needs. She complains that the Council has not incorporated the advice and recommendations contained in the reports into the EHC plan.
9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. It is not for us to take a view on what an EHC plan should contain, or whether a child should attend a particular type of school.
10. The evidence shows that Mrs X’s daughter’s EHC plan was reviewed in February 2024. If Mrs X was unhappy with the outcome, her recourse was to appeal to the SEND Tribunal. This is the appropriate route by which to address disagreements with the content of an EHC Plan and the Ombudsman would expect it to be used. It would have been reasonable for Mrs X to use her right to appeal.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it would have been reasonable for her to use her right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman