Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to provide a finalised Education Health and Care Plan. The Council has now provided the plan, and it is reasonable to expect Miss X to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council did not provide her with a finalised Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) when she progressed to further education. This meant she could not appeal the content of the plan to a Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal. Miss X says this caused her to worry that support would not be in place when she started college.

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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 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.
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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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 and Guidance on Jurisdiction.

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My assessment

7. Miss X submitted an earlier complaint to us in February 2020 about the Council’s failure to ensure her secondary school provided the support set out in her EHCP. The complaint was upheld in June 2021. Miss X then sought a new EHCP as she was moving to further education for the 2021/22 academic year. Miss X submitted this complaint to us in June 2021 about the Council’s alleged failure to provide a finalised EHCP. Miss X said this meant she could not appeal the content of the ECHP to the SEND Tribunal.
8. The Council wrote to Miss X on 30 September 2021 to say it had now provided the finalised EHCP. Miss X has the right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal if she wishes to seek amendments to the content of the EHCP. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to do so.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has now provided the EHCP, and it is reasonable to expect Miss X to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman