Council criticised over primary school admissions

Archived press release

Date Published: 26/08/09

Admission appeals for a Northumberland County Council primary school were not handled properly.

Admission appeals for a Northumberland County Council primary school were not handled properly, finds Local Government Ombudsman, Anne Seex. In her report, issued today (26 August 2009) she says that the faults “…caused injustice denying parents consideration of their appeals in the way specified by the Appeals Code.”

Four families complained about the former Northumberland County Council’s admission arrangements for the reception class at a primary school, and about the handling of their appeals against the refusal of places for their children.

The Ombudsman found that the appeal panel failed to consider whether the Council had justified its case for ‘infant class size prejudice’ – which means that the school could not admit more children without creating class sizes of more than 30 children and thereby having to take action such as employing an extra teacher. The statutory School Admissions Appeals Code says that a panel must consider whether such a case is justified. The panel had been incorrectly advised by the Clerk, and its decision letter incorrectly said that this was not in the panel’s remit.

The Council also failed to meet the statutory timescale for publishing a notice that school admission arrangements could be inspected and any objections could be made to the Schools Adjudicator.

The Ombudsman did not find fault on other allegations, including those about:

• the way the Council satisfied itself about alleged fraud in applications for school places;
• incorrect information about the closing date of applications given by a nursery;
• the way the Council accepted parents’ medical conditions as qualifying a child for priority; or
• the way appeals were organised.

The Ombudsman finds maladministration causing injustice and recommends that Northumberland Council [the successor authority to the former Northumberland County Council] should:

• pay the complainants £250 each in recognition of their time and trouble in pursuing their complaints;
• ensure that its clerks to appeal panels are fully trained in the requirements of the statutory codes; and
• consider whether:
  • it needs to ask all parents to provide proof of residence when they apply for a school place;
  • to establish guidelines about the standard of proof it will require when allegations are made that school places have been gained by fraud; and
  • to clarify the wording of the exceptional medical or social need oversubscription criterion.
     

report ref no 08 008 086 and three others