Sunderland City Council (22 006 072)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to concerns about bullying in a school. This is because the complaint flows from the internal management of a school, which we have no jurisdiction to consider. The law says we cannot consider complaints about the actions of councils in relation to matters that are outside our jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complained about bullying in his son’s school. Mr X complained the Council had failed to safeguard his son.
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 cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(b), as amended)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. Complaints about what happens in schools are outside our jurisdiction. We have no powers to consider complaints about a council’s actions if they relate to something which is outside our jurisdiction.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman