Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s practices regarding the provision of halal food in schools. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about what happens in schools.

The complaint

2. The complainant, who I shall call Mr X, complained that the preparation of food the Council provided in a local primary school did not comply with Islamic rules. Mr X also complained that the Council had not consulted properly with parents about its policy and practices concerning halal food in schools.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 (‘the Act’) sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate. In particular, the law says we cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools. Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(b), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mr X provided with his complaint. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Act says that we cannot investigate complaints about “any action concerning the conduct, curriculum, internal organisation, management or discipline” in any school maintained by the local authority.
6. Mr X’s concerns about the inadequate provision of halal food in a local school, and his wider issues with the Council’s consultation processes regarding halal food in its schools, both relate directly to the internal organisation and management of those schools. In the circumstances I consider we are prevented by law from pursuing Mr X’s complaint.

Final Decision

7. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s practices regarding halal food in its schools as the law precludes us from pursuing complaints about what happens in schools.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman