Essex County Council (04A05213)

School admissions                     Maladministration causing injustice

27 October 2005

‘Mr and Mrs Frost’ (not their real names for legal reasons) complained about the way that the Council dealt with their application for a transfer from primary to secondary school, in September 2004, for their son ‘Jim’, and their wish for him to attend the school where his older brother was already a pupil.

Mr and Mrs Frost’s application was received by the Council seven days after the deadline date. The Council refused a place for Jim and the application was put on the waiting list below all the applications that were made on time or for which the Council made a discretionary decision to treat as on time even though they were late.

The Ombudsman found maladministration in the way the Council handled the waiting list because:

• the Council did not have proper regard to guidance issued by Parliament;
• the Council did not comply with the advice that children on the waiting list should be ranked in the same order as the oversubscription criteria; and
• the Council fettered its discretion by automatically putting late applications at the bottom of the waiting list without considering the circumstances of the families.

If these faults had not occurred, Mr and Mrs Frost’s son would have secured a place at the school they wanted.

The Ombudsman was pleased to record that the Council had agreed to change its waiting list procedures so as to follow Parliamentary guidance; and had offered to pay compensation of £800 to Mr and Mrs Frost as a contribution to travel costs for their son to attend a more distant school and in recognition of their distress and their time and trouble in pursuing the complaint.

Date Published: 14/04/09