Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to provide her daughter with a suitable full time education when she was unable to attend a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). We discontinued our investigation as it is not clear that Mrs X wishes us to pursue her complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has failed to provide her daughter with a suitable full time education when she was unable to attend a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU). Mrs X says the PRU was unsuitable and her daughter was left without an education for over a year during a critical stage of her education.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully.
3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Ms Z and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs X’s daughter, Y was permanently excluded from school in November 2023 and was allocated a place at a PRU. Y stopped attending the PRU in the summer of 2024. In June 2025 Mrs X raised concerns about Y being out of education and asked the Council to provide home tuition. The Council was satisfied educational provision was available at the PRU.
7. Mrs X’s representative, Ms Z then made a formal request for home tuition in July 2025 but did not receive a substantive response. In August 2025 Ms Z made a formal complaint about the Council’s failure to act on its statutory duty to arrange a suitable education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996.
8. The Council responded to Ms Z’s request for tuition on 19 August 2025 and to the complaint on 21 August 2025. The complaint response apologised for the delay in responding to Ms Z’s request for home tuition and confirmed its position that suitable provision was available at for Y the PRU.
9. Ms Z asked for the complaint to be reviewed at stage 2 of the complaints process. The Council responded on 26 September 2025 and maintained its decision that it had met is statutory duty as suitable provision had been and continued to be available at the PRU.
10. In December 2025 Ms Z contacted the Ombudsman on Mrs X’s behalf to ask that we investigate her concerns. Ms Z subsequently contacted us in March 2026 to advise she was no longer representing or in contact with Mrs X or her family.
11. We have written to Mrs X three times to request her contact details and to confirm whether she wishes to proceed with an alternative representative. Mrs X has not responded to our correspondence or confirmed that she still wishes to pursue her complaint.

Analysis

12. The complaint was raised by a third party who no longer represents Mrs X. In the absence of any communication or engagement from Mrs X it is unclear whether she wishes to pursue this complaint. For this reason we have discontinued our investigation.

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Decision

13. We discontinued our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman