North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (24 015 275)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 27 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her child’s education. Miss X has appealed to a tribunal which places the complaint outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, Miss X, complained the Council has not secured a place at her preferred school for her son. Miss X says this has left her son without a suitable education.
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
- We will not start an investigation into Ms X’s complaint.
- Miss X has appealed to the SEND Tribunal because the Council has not named her preferred school in her son’s Education, Health and Care Plan. Where appeal rights have been used, the matter is outside our jurisdiction from the point at which the appeal rights were available until the Tribunal issues its decision. This exclusion applies to the matter appealed and anything closely related, such as the education provided.
- Miss X’s complaint is not one we can consider.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because she has appealed to a tribunal which places the matter outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman