Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about alternative educational provision. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision that part-time education was sufficient for the child to warrant investigation by us.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said the Council failed to arrange alternative educational provision for her child when the child was unable to attend school full-time.

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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.

(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 the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s child was unable to attend school full time. She emailed the Council in November 2025 to ask for alternative education for the sessions when her child was not attending school.
6. The evidence Mrs X sent us shows the Council considered its potential duties and laid out its reasoning. It decided the child could attend school part-time as this was happening. It noted there had been no medical information to say the child could not attend school. It decided that when the child was unable to return to school for the afternoon session, the child was unlikely to be able to cope with further educational input that day. It took the view that the best approach would be “graded exposure” and that this needed to be monitored each half-term. It said it would keep the possibility of alternative educational provision open to review if circumstances changed. While Mrs X takes the view the Council had an absolute duty, the duty is subject to considering the ability of a child to cope with full-time education. The evidence Mrs X sent us shows it did that. Where a Council has reached a decision properly, we are unlikely to find fault.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council reached its decision about the child ability to cope with full-time education to warrant our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman