Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to provide alternative education to her child, Y, when they could no longer attend school from October 2024 to July 2025. Miss X said the matter has caused her distress and frustration. She also said Y’s education was significantly impacted. We have found fault in the Councils actions for failing to take action when it was aware Y was not attending school. The Council has agreed to write to Miss X to apologise and pay her and Y a symbolic payment.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to provide alternative education to her child, Y, when they could no longer attend school from October 2024 to July 2025.
2. Miss X said the matter has caused her distress and frustration. She also said Y’s education was significantly impacted.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(1), as amended)
6. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Miss X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Alternative provision

9. Councils must arrange suitable education at school or elsewhere for pupils who are out of school because of exclusion, illness or for other reasons, if they would not receive suitable education without such arrangements. (Education Act 1996, section 19). We refer to this as section 19 or alternative education provision.
10. The courts have considered the circumstances where the section 19 duty applies. Caselaw has established that a council will have a duty to provide alternative education under section 19 if there is no suitable education available to the child which is “reasonably practicable” for the child to access. The “acid test” is whether educational provision the council has offered is “available and accessible to the child”. (R (on the application of DS) v Wolverhampton City Council 2017)

What happened

11. Miss X’s son attended school in the Council’s area but lived in a different Council area.
12. Miss X’s son was involved in an incident at school in October 2024. The school emailed Miss X to say Y had been suspended from school. The school contacted the Council a few days later to ask for advice about the situation.
13. The Council contacted the school several days later to check what action it had taken. The Council also contacted the school in mid-November 2024 to try and understand what action it had taken regarding the incident.
14. Miss X emailed the Council in mid-November 2024 to say Y was not in education and that she was worried about this as he was in his exam year.
15. The Council contacted the school again and said it required Y back into school if no suspension or exclusion had taken place. The Council told Miss X it would arrange a meeting with the school and then contact her.
16. Miss X contacted the Council in late March 2025 to say Y had now been out of school for six months. Miss X said Y had received no education in that time.
17. Miss X raised a complaint with the Council in late March 2025 and said Y had not been in education for six months. She said the Council had said it would help to get Y back into school but had not done so. Miss X said Y had missed his mock exams and his mental health had deteriorated.
18. The Council contacted the school in early April 2025 to ask what was happening with Y and confirmed no referral had been made to it to say Y was not attending. The Council also tried to arrange a meeting with the school in late April 2025.
19. The Council spoke to Miss X in mid-May 2025 and said it was trying to contact the school, and it confirmed in late May 2025 it had been able to speak to the school.
20. Miss X raised a further complaint in June 2025 and said Y was still not in education and had now missed his exams.
21. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in mid- September 2025 and said it partially upheld her complaint. The Council said it had acted appropriately initially but then did not follow up. The Council said it had improved procedures to check for Children Missing in Education and had strengthened its attendance policy.

Analysis

22. The Council was aware that Y was not attending school in October 2024 when Miss X contacted it. Although I can see the Council tried to contact the school up until November 2024, I cannot see at that time it understood what was happening with Y.
23. I have not been able to see the Council took any further action until Miss X contacted it again in March 2025. This is fault and has caused Miss X and Y distress and frustration. This has been exacerbated by it being Y’s exam year.
24. Miss X has complained the Council did not put any alternative provision in place for Y. However, as Y lived in a different Council area it would have been for that Council to decide if alternative provision should be put in place. I cannot see the Council had any communications with Y’s home Council. This is fault and has caused Miss X and Y uncertainty. However, I cannot say what decision the home Council would have taken in relation to putting alternative provision in place had it been advised about Y not attending school.

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Action

25. Within four weeks of a final decision, the Council should:

• Write to Miss X to apologise for the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Miss X £1,000 to recognize the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to Y.
• Pay Miss X £500 to recognize the distress, frustration and uncertainty caused to her.

26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

27. I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman