Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about information about children changing for PE in primary schools being passed on by the Council. What happens is an internal matter for schools to decide and we are legally prevented from investigating their decisions. The wider issue of what information about this matter is passed on to schools in general is unlikely to create sufficient separable injustice to Miss X or her child to warrant investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X said the Council passed on misinformation to primary schools about children changing for PE. She said pursuing this with her child’s school had been frustrating and time-consuming.

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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 most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(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.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X’s child’s primary school’s PE changing policy and practice is an internal matter for it, not the Council. While the complaint is against the Council, the Council’s role here is marginal.
8. The injustice to Miss X or her child from the Council’s actions separable from the school’s actions is not enough to warrant our involvement.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because:

• We cannot investigate the actions of the school, which directly affect Miss X and her child, as a legal bar prevents us doing so; and
• Any injustice from the Council’s separable actions is not likely to be sufficient to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman