Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s financial remedy it paid her in recognition of her child, Y’s, lost education after they were excluded from school in March 2023. This is because the Council’s remedy was in line with the Ombudsman’s Guidance on Remedies and an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve anything further.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to provide a suitable financial remedy when it accepted fault for failing to organise alternative education for her child, Y, when they were excluded from school in March 2023.
2. Miss X says the matter caused her distress. Miss X wants the Council to increase its financial remedy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X complained to the Council in April 2023. She said Y was out of education, receiving only 30 minutes twice per week of tutoring after being excluded from school in March 2023. She also complained about delays in the Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment of Y.
8. The Council sent a final complaint response in June 2023. It accepted fault for failing to organise enough alternative education for Y between March 2023 and late June 2023. It apologised for delays in the EHC process and for its poor communication. It offered Miss X £1,600 in recognition of Y’s lost education and £200 for her time and trouble pursuing the complaint.
9. Miss X accepted the remedy payment. However, in May 2024 Miss X said she was told another parent had received a higher remedy. She therefore asked the Council for an increased financial remedy for Y’s lost education.
10. The Council refused and told Miss X if she disagreed with its offer she could have complained to the Ombudsman. Miss X said she did not know to complain to the Ombudsman and had not received an email signposting her to our service. The Council sent Miss X a copy of the email it sent her in June 2023 signposting to us.

Analysis

11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council offered Miss X £1,600 for Y’s lost education between March 2023 and late June 2023. This is approximately one term of education. Our Guidance on Remedies recommends payments between £900 and £2,400 per term of lost education. The Council’s remedy is therefore in the middle of our recommended payments scale.
12. The Council also apologised for the delays in the EHC process and for its poor communication. It offered Miss X a symbolic payment of £200 for her time and trouble pursuing the complaint. Again, this is in line with our Guidance on Remedies.
13. Considering the above, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome. Therefore, we will not investigate this complaint.
14. Even if we did investigate, because Miss X did not bring her complaint to the Ombudsman until late May 2024, we would not be able to consider the period March 2023 to late May 2023. This is because this part of the complaint is more than 12 months old and is therefore late. On balance, I consider if Miss X was dissatisfied with the Council’s final response at the time, it would be reasonable to have expected her to complain to us sooner, and there are no good reasons we would exercise discretion to look at matters older than 12 months.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman