Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about nursery charges. It is unlikely we would find fault which caused Mr X to be wrongly charged.

The complaint

1. Mr X says that the Council failed to take action against a nursery for its overcharging.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X which includes the Council’s repo.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council in April 2025 about the nursery charges his children attended. He also says he contacted the Council in September 2024 about this.
6. The Council says it carried out a routine audit in August 2024. Following this audit the Council told the nursery its charges were not in line with the Code and asked it to change it. The nursery did so and told the Council it had carried out all action by the end of October 2024.
7. Mr X says the nursery has reimbursed him for charges from April 2024 to August 2024 but not for before then. We understand the nursery had changed its charging system in April 2024.
8. In reply to his complaint, the Council said it could not get involved in a dispute about the earlier charges. It said the nursery information about those charges was not transparent enough for it to make a decision.

Analysis

9. The Council’s responsibility starts at the point it is notified the childcare provider may be charging for free hours wrongly. Here the Council acted before Mr X contacted it. We will not therefore investigate this complaint as it is unlikely we would find fault.
10. If Mr X wishes to pursue the extra fees paid to the nursery before he complained to the Council, he would need to take action with the nursery provider directly.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find Council fault which caused him to be wrongly charged.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman