Who Should I Complain To?
A parent’s guide to school, Local Authority and SEND complaints
Empowering Families of Children with SEND
When something goes wrong, it can feel stressful and confusing to know who to contact first. This guide is designed to help families understand the right route to take, how to complain, what to expect next, and how to avoid losing time by sending a complaint to the wrong place.
Concern or formal complaint?
A concern is usually an informal way of saying that something is not working and asking for it to be put right. A formal complaint is a written request for the school, academy trust or Local Authority to look into the issue under its complaints process and give you a formal response.
FLAGGING A CONCERN | MAKING A FORMAL COMPLAINT |
Usually an early, informal step. | A written request for investigation under the complaints procedure. |
May be raised with the teacher, SENCo, head of year or an LA officer. | Should clearly say: “This is a formal complaint.” |
Aims to fix the problem quickly. | Appropriate when informal action has failed, the issue is serious, or a policy or legal duty may not have been followed. |
May be discussed by email, telephone or at a meeting. | Should identify the issues, evidence, impact and outcome sought. |
If you want a formal investigation, say clearly that you are making a formal complaint following the school / LA's process.
School or Local Authority: who should I complain to?
Whether you complain to the school or the Local Authority usually depends on who made the decision, who has responsibility for the issue, and what outcome you need. Some situations involve both the school and the Local Authority.
Usually direct these matters to the school:
Day-to-day teaching, communication and classroom practice.
How the school applies its behaviour, anti-bullying, safeguarding or SEND policies.
Staff conduct and the way a school handled an incident.
SEN Support, including use of the graduated approach and involvement of parents.
Reasonable adjustments and access to lessons, trips, facilities or school activities.
Concerns that school staff are not delivering support that should be provided at school support.
Usually direct these matters to the Local Authority:
Delays or failures in EHC needs assessments, reassessments, annual reviews, amendments or issuing a final EHC plan.
Failure to secure special educational provision specified in Section F of an EHC plan.
Failure to arrange suitable education where the Local Authority has a legal responsibility to do so.
SEND transport decisions or failure to put agreed transport in place.
Local Authority SEND services, the Local Offer, personal budgets, or relevant social care services.
When both may be involved:
If provision in an EHC plan is not being delivered, raise the practical problem with the school as soon as possible and let the Local Authority know, usually by contacting your case officer. If the issue is not resolved, you will need to direct a formal complaint to the Local Authority because it has the legal duty to secure the special educational provision in Section F of the EHC plan.
How should I complain to a school?
Start by checking the school or academy trust’s complaints policy. This is usually on the school website, or you can ask the school for a copy. The wording and stages may vary, but the process often looks like this:
Informal resolution: raise the issue with the relevant member of staff, SENCo or senior leader.
Formal complaint: write to the headteacher or the person named in the policy. The school should acknowledge, investigate and respond in writing.
Review or panel stage: if you remain dissatisfied, request an investigation at the next stage, often a governing board, academy trust or complaints panel review.
At the formal stage, the school should explain what it is investigating, look at relevant records, respond to each complaint point, say whether each point is upheld, and explain what will happen next. The exact process and deadlines will be set out in the school’s own policy.
How should I complain to a Local Authority?
Use the council’s published complaints procedure and be clear about which SEND service, delay, decision or failure your complaint is about. This is available online and usually involved filling in an online form to begin the process.
A typical route is:
Stage 1: the relevant service investigates and provides a written outcome.
Stage 2: if the complaint remains unresolved, request escalation within the time stated in the council’s response. A senior officer or complaints team will review the handling and outcome. The council’s response should explain its findings, whether each point is upheld, any remedy or service improvement, and how to take the complaint further.
Independent escalation: once the council’s complaints process is complete, you may be able to escalate the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman if you remain unhappy with the outcome and the issue is something the Ombudsman can consider.
The role of the LGSCO
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, often shortened to LGSCO, looks at complaints about councils in England. In SEND cases, it can consider issues such as avoidable delay, problems with parts of the EHC process, failure to secure provision in an EHC plan, and some wider issues with SEND services.
The LGSCO is not the same as the SEND Tribunal. It usually cannot look at a complaint where there is, or was, a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. It also cannot simply change a council’s lawful decision because a parent disagrees with it.
Where fault has caused injustice, the LGSCO may recommend remedies such as an apology, a financial payment, action to provide a service, staff training or wider service improvement.
Before contacting the LGSCO, families will usually need to give the council a reasonable opportunity to complete its own complaints process. The council’s final response should explain how to take the complaint further. You can find out more here: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
When should I use a Tribunal rather than a formal complaint?
The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability), often called the SEND Tribunal, is usually the right route when you are challenging a decision that has a legal right of appeal. This includes decisions such as:
Refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment or reassessment.
Refusal to issue an EHC plan after assessment.
The description of needs, special educational provision or educational placement in a final EHC plan.
A decision not to amend an EHC plan following review or reassessment.
A decision to cease to maintain an EHC plan.
A useful rule of thumb
A helpful rule of thumb is this: if you disagree with the actual EHC decision and that decision can be appealed, the SEND Tribunal is usually the right route. If the issue is about delay, poor communication, poor administration, or failure to carry out an existing duty, the Local Authority complaints process may be the right route. Sometimes both routes may be relevant, but they deal with different issues.
Disability discrimination: complaint, Tribunal, or both?
A school complaint can be useful if you want the school to look at what happened, follow its policies, apologise, change practice or take practical steps to put things right. However, if the complaint is that a disabled pupil has been unlawfully discriminated against, this may be something the SEND Tribunal can consider.
Examples may include failure to make reasonable adjustments, unfavourable treatment because of something arising from disability, exclusion from a trip or facility, or certain disability-related admissions issues.
Route | Use it for | Key point |
School complaint | Internal investigation, resolution, policy compliance and practical remedies. | May resolve matters quickly and create a clear written record. |
Disability discrimination claim | A legal claim that the responsible body discriminated against a disabled pupil under the Equality Act 2010. | The usual time limit is six months from the alleged discrimination. A school complaint does not stop that time limit. |
Both | Where the family wants an internal response and also needs to protect the right to bring a legal claim. | The processes can run alongside each other because they serve different purposes. |
Top tips for making an effective complaint
Choose the right route: Identify whether the issue is about school practice, a Local Authority duty, an appealable EHC decision, or disability discrimination.
Say what you are doing: Use the words “formal complaint” and name the stage of the complaints procedure.
Use numbered complaint points: Separate each alleged failure so the investigator can respond to every issue.
Build a short timeline: List key dates, decisions, meetings, emails and missed actions in chronological order.
Attach the strongest evidence: Include only the documents needed to prove each point, such as relevant EHC plan sections, emails, reports and meeting notes.
Explain the impact: Describe clearly how the failure affected the child, young person or family.
Ask for a realistic remedy: State what would put matters right, for example action, provision, reimbursement, an apology, training or procedural change.
Stay factual and focused: Clear, calm and focused language makes it easier for the person reading your complaint to understand the problem and investigate it properly.
Keep every record: Save the complaint, attachments, acknowledgements, responses and evidence of when each item was sent.
Protect legal deadlines: Do not allow a complaints process to make you miss a Tribunal or court deadline. Seek specialist advice promptly if unsure.
Where do I go from here, and how can Empowering Families of Children with SEND Ltd help me?
We can provide support with formal complaints to both schools and LAs, disability discrimination and tribunals.
Book a meeting with us here. And for form information about the bespoke support Empowering Families can provide, email appeals@empoweringSENDfamilies.co.uk
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