15 July 2024

 

Like many people, we’ve been concerned about reports that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) was going to be raising the threshold it uses for deciding whether to investigate SEND-related complaints. Families of children and young people with SEND rely on the LGSCO to address injustices in the system. 

The LGSCO makes decisions on complaints about local authorities and adult care providers in England. It considers complaints about most local authority services, including education for children and young people with SEND, where there has been fault on the part of the local authority that has led to injustice for the person complaining. 

For several years, the LGSCO has reported that it receives more complaints about SEND than any other local authority service. Not just that, but a much higher proportion of SEND complaints are decided in favour of the person complaining, compared with complaints about other things such as adult social care, housing, planning and transport. 

Some recent press reports have suggested the LGSCO has increased its thresholds for SEND complaints. However, after meeting with them, the LGSCO has reassured us that this is not the case. The LGSCO explained to us that it has had to focus its available resources – across all of its casework, not just SEND – on cases involving the most serious injustice. This is because its investigators are dealing with increasing numbers of complaints. 

SEND continues to make up approximately 45% of completed investigations, so it is reassuring to learn the LGSCO is as committed as ever to focusing its resources on SEND complaints. 

Things to consider before making a complaint 

While we're on this topic, it's worth telling you about some important considerations before making a complaint. Understanding what the LGSCO can and cannot investigate is crucial, and detailed information is available on their website. Here are a few key points: 

• SEND Tribunal vs. LGSCO: one of the things the LGSCO cannot decide on is matters which can be decided by the SEND Tribunal.  It’s important to remember this if you are considering making a complaint, and to consider which body would be best placed to deal with the particular issue you are facing. 

If you’re unhappy because your local authority has made a decision such as refusing to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment or issue an EHC plan, or if you disagree with the educational content of a recently finalised EHC plan, the correct route would be to make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal instead of complaining to the LGSCO.

 In some cases, appealing to the SEND Tribunal may be the best way to resolve other types of fault, such as complaints about local authorities not obtaining certain information and advice during EHC needs assessments. This is because the LGSCO can’t second-guess what provision would have gone into an EHC plan should the missing information and advice have been obtained, or compel a local authority to change the content of an EHC plan, whereas the SEND Tribunal can. So, depending on all the facts of a complaint like this, the LGSCO may decide the correct route would be to appeal the resulting EHC plan. That way, the SEND Tribunal can be asked to order the local authority to obtain the missing information and advice and can make decisions relating to whether/ how the content of the EHC plan should be amended to reflect it.

• Judicial review: when the complaints procedure would not be a realistic and effective way of solving the issue, it may be appropriate to alert your local authority to the issue and take advice on starting a process called judicial review  instead of making a formal complaint.    

Find more helpful information about taking action when things go wrong on our website.

 

About the author

Liz is a member of IPSEA’s Legal Team. She provides legal support to new and existing volunteers and supervises and monitors the advice provided on IPSEA’s helplines. She also delivers SEND law training to parents and carers across the country. As part of IPSEA’s Policy Team, Liz gets involved in both local and national policy work and contributes to creating content which is shared on our social media platforms. Liz’s role includes reviewing and updating the IPSEA website to ensure information is kept current and she enjoys creating new website resources for parents and young people to use, such as model letters Outside of work, Liz advocates and cares for her son, who is Autistic and has special educational needs; she is also a special school governor. Liz enjoys spinning, walking and spending quality time with family.

Explore more of our latest policy blogs here.