Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to concerns he raised about a local school. It would not be a good use of our limited resources.

The complaint

1. Mr X has concerns about a local school. He says these include,

• financial mismanagement,
• fundraising fraud, and
• safeguarding failures.

2. He is unhappy with the school’s response to his complaints.
3. He raised his concerns with the Department for Education and the Council. He is unhappy with the Council’s response. He made a formal complaint to the Council about its response. The Council declined to respond.
4. He says the Council’s actions have resulted in:

• a fundamental denial of natural justice,
• the perpetuation of systematic procedural abuses by the school, and
• the continuing lack of resolution for the safeguarding complaints, financial disputes and fundraising fraud.

5. He says this has had a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged households who he believes would be unable to navigate the school’s complaints process.
6. He wants the Council to investigate its handling of the case, compel the school to adhere to its original complaints procedure for all outstanding complaints, and undertake a review of the school’s complaints policy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

7. 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 it would not be a good use of our limited resources. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
8. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information provided by the complainant.
10. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

11. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaints about the school. They concern the organisation and management of the school and are not, therefore, matters we can investigate. Mr X acknowledged this in his complaint to us. He asked us to investigate the Council’s response to his concerns and its refusal to respond to his subsequent complaint.
12. We have a wide discretion to decide what to investigate and what not to investigate. It would not be a good use of our limited resources to investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council as we cannot investigate the underlying issues concerning the school. We could not get to the bottom of the issues Mr X is complaining about.
13. Our approach has been tested and upheld by the Courts.
14. In any event, Mr X has raised his concerns about the school directly with the Department for Education (DfE). The DfE is better placed to consider his complaints about the school.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to concerns he raised about a local school. It would not be a good use of our limited resources.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman