Summary: Mr and Mrs P complain following their unsuccessful appeal for a place for their son, B, at primary school. B has since been offered a place at the school, so I do not intend to continue my investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs P complain following their unsuccessful appeal for a place for their son, B, at a primary school. In particular, Mr and Mrs P complain about the way the appeal panel considered regulations which limit the size of infant classes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. The Ombudsman cannot question a school admission appeal panel’s decision simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider if there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3))
3. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered:
• Mr and Mrs P’s comments;
• all the information presented to the Appeal Panel, the notes taken by the Clerk during the appeal, and the Panel’s decision letter following the appeal; and
• the School Admissions Appeals Code 2012.
5. I invited Mr and Mrs P and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. The Ombudsman checks the appeal was carried out properly. We do not decide whether Mr and Mrs P’s son should be given a place at the school. If we find fault in the appeal, we might recommend a fresh appeal. We cannot admit a child to the school.
7. Since making their complaint to the Ombudsman, Mr and Mrs P’s son has been offered a place at the school. This is a better outcome than I could achieve and there is nothing to be gained by investigating the complaint further.

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Final decision

8. I have ended my investigation. Now that B has a place at the school, there is nothing more I could achieve for Mr and Mrs P by investigating their complaint further.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman