Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (21 009 498)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s children services team’s involvement in a decision about her child’s school place. It is unlikely we would find fault which caused the alleged injustice.
The complaint
- Miss X says the Council’s children services team’s officers were involved in the decision about where her child should receive their education. She says she was not involved, and this was wrong. She says her child is out of education.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In June 2021, the Courts decided that Miss X’s child should live with their father. He then applied to the Council for the child to transfer schools to fit in with their new home. The Council’s school admissions team considered the application, and the child started a new school in October.
- Miss X says she believes the Council’s children services team was involved in the decision. It denies this. It says it does not have parental responsibility and its views are not part of the school admissions process.
- The Council’s school admissions policy says places are allocated on the basis of the child’s permanent home address. In this case this would be the father’s. It is unlikely we could find fault in the Council offering a place on the basis of the father’s wishes and not considering Miss X’s wishes here. Any injustice caused by the child being out of school for a short period would be a complaint more suitable to come from the father as he would have had to deal with the period whilst the child was out of school.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman