Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her son’s secondary school education. Her complaint is late and we have seen no good reason why she could not have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained her son missed four years of secondary school because of the Council’s failures. She said she was blamed as a parent even though she tried to help.
2. She said she was threatened with a fine because of her son’s absence from school. Miss X also complained her son was not given suitable education provision that met his needs.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Miss X said her son did not attend school from Year 8 to Year 11. She said his long absence was due to the Council’s failures. Miss X then complained to us in 2025, after her son would have finished Year 11.
8. We will not investigate her complaint because it is late and we have seen no good reason why we she could not have complained to us sooner. We have also found no good reason to exercise our discretion and investigate her late complaint now.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and we have found no good reason why she could not have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman