Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the school Mrs X’s child attends. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about what happens in school.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the school has handled her concerns about her son being bullied, and about the way the school has treated her and her son.
2. Mrs X also complained about the Council’s decision to enforce her son’s attendance at school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
6. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint as it is about what has happened in a school. This places the complaint outside of our jurisdiction because of the exception outlined in paragraph 4. The Department for Education and/or Ofsted are better placed to consider her complaint.
10. The Council has legal powers to enforce school attendance. That Mrs X is unhappy with its decision to do so is not evidence of fault. I will not investigate this part of Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
11. I recognise Mrs X remains dissatisfied. However, the Ombudsman is not an appeal body for people who disagree with a council’s decision. We cannot question the merits of decisions which have been properly made. We do not comment on judgements councils make unless they are affected by fault in the decision-making process.   

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is about what has happened in a school.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman