Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint which stems from the Council’s proposals to close several schools. Ms X has raised concerns about the Council’s handling of her complaint, and we will not look at that as a standalone issue. The Office of the Schools Adjudicator is best placed to consider the decision the Council has now taken.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained to the Ombudsman after the Council proposed to close several schools in its area. Ms X was unhappy an officer involved in the proposals sent the Council’s stage 1 complaint response. Ms X said the Council’s stage 2 response to her complaint was late. Ms X wanted the Council to respond before it decided on whether to go ahead with the school closures.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. We will not start an investigation into Ms X’s complaint.
6. While I understand Ms X’s concerns about the Council’s handling of her complaint, we will not normally look at complaint handling as a standalone issue. Any fault in complaint handling will not normally lead to an injustice great enough to warrant out involvement. Also, it is not unusual for an officer involved in the original decision complained about to respond at stage 1 of a council’s process; local resolution is often best. It is unlikely we would say the Council was at fault for taking this approach. The Council has also now sent a stage 2 response. We could not achieve anything more.
7. The Council has also now decided to close two schools – while others will remain open. I understand this decision has already been referred to the Officer of the Schools Adjudicator (OSA) by a third party. The OSA is in a better position than the Ombudsman to consider the proposals and so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. We will not look at complaint handling as a standalone issue and the OSA is better placed to consider the decision at the heart of this complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman