Sheffield City Council (24 007 094)

Category : Education > Other

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 05 Mar 2025

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council incorrectly advised her child’s school how to record their absence. The Council has fully upheld the complaint, apologised and made service improvements. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

  1. Mrs X complained the Council incorrectly advised her child’s, (Y’s) school to record their absence as unauthorised when Y could not attend because of illness. She said this caused her upset and offence and that she had taken a significant amount of time trying to correct the error. She wants the Council to apologise, train staff and recognise Y could not attend school because of illness.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council. That is because the Council has fully upheld the complaint and apologised for failing to properly consider all available evidence when deciding whether Y could attend school. It confirmed it would add an amendment to the school register and take further training with staff. It also apologised to Mrs X for failings in its complaint handling that further added to her frustration. It has offered a financial remedy in line with our guidance. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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