Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the decision to issue a fixed penalty notice for his child’s unauthorised absence from school. The authority to issue the notice belongs to a school’s headteacher and the Council’s role is only ancillary to that. We have no powers to investigate the actions of a school and there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complained about the decision to issue a fixed penalty notice for his child’s unauthorised absence from school. The absence was linked to a family emergency and Mr X believes the fine was unfair. Mr X says it could have been avoided if communication from the parties involved had been better.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools unless it relates to special educational needs, when the schools are acting on behalf of the council to secure educational provision as set out in Section F of the young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan.
4. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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What I found

Background

7. Mr X’s daughter (Y) was due to start a new primary school (School 2) at the start of September 2024. During the summer holidays a family emergency prevented Y and her mother from returning home as planned. Mr X applied to School 2 for an authorised absence. Mr X then received a call from Y’s old school (School 1) to ask why she was absent. Mr X sent School 1 a request for an authorised absence. Mr X says he did not receive a response until over a week later. School 1 said Y’s absence was unauthorised and it would be passing the matter to the Council to issue a fixed penalty notice.
8. Mr X says that if School 2 had not authorised Y’s absence he would have contacted School 1 earlier. Mr X also says that if School 1 had refused Mr X’s request sooner, he could have made alternative arrangements. Mr X says the Council’s Attendance Officer did not respond to an enquiry he sent.
9. In its response to Mr X’s complaint the Council said School 1 and 2 are academies. Schools cannot remove a child from their roll other than in certain circumstances. This includes the child being registered at another school. The role of the Council is to issue fixed penalty notices when a referral for an unauthorised absence is made. Because Y was not on roll at School 2, she remained a pupil at School 1. Its Headteacher was responsible for any issues around non-attendance. They did not authorise Y’s absence and the Council’s issuing of the fine was in line with government guidance. The Council said it could only be withdrawn at the discretion of the Headteacher. If Mr X felt the fine was incorrect, he should contact the Headteacher. Mr X paid the fine issued by the Council.

Assessment

10. Government regulations that cover the issue of fixed penalty notices state that the authority to issue the notices belongs to schools. Only a headteacher or an authorised deputy or assistant headteacher may do so. It is also solely a matter for a school to determine whether an absence is unauthorised.
11. Where a parent takes a child out of school during term time for a visit or holiday, the Council’s role is ancillary. It issues a fixed penalty notice if requested to do so by a school, and then a notice of court action if there is no response to the notice. We are only likely to investigate a Council’s actions if it issues a fixed penalty notice that is factually incorrect in the sense of errors in dates or the child’s details.
12. In this case the Council issued a fixed penalty notice at the request of School 1. Whether the Headteacher was right to request the Council issue a fine is not something we can consider. This is because we have no powers to investigate a school’s actions – as explained in paragraph 3. That exclusion also applies to School 2. The Council’s role in this matter was ancillary to the decision which ultimately led to Mr X’s complaint – that Mr X should be issued with a fixed penalty notice. Mr X had the chance defend his position in court but chose to pay. While I understand that decision, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant us investigating.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the substantive matter concerns the actions of schools, and the law prevents us from investigating. The role of the Council was only ancillary to that and there is not enough evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman