Buckinghamshire Council (21 009 569)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s role in the administration of 11+ testing for the selective secondary schools. This is because the Council’s actions have not caused any personal injustice to the complainant.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I refer to here as Mr Z, says that the Council failed to respond to his queries regarding the secondary education provision in its area and in particular the Council’s reasons for providing administrative support for the 11+ testing. Mr Z is concerned that any unfairness of the testing system might affect his grandchildren.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy.
(Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mr Z.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr Z is concerned about the Council’s role in the administration of the 11+ testing system for the selective secondary schools in its area. He draws attention to the impact of any potential unfairness on his grandchildren.
- To consider investigating a complaint we need to be satisfied that the complainant has already been negatively affected by the Council’s alleged faulty actions or decisions. This is not the case here.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr Z’s complaint because the Council’s actions have not caused any personal injustice to Mr Z.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman