Summary: A parent complained that the Council had unreasonably withdrawn the offer of a place for her son at her preferred infant school. But the Ombudsman will not start an investigation of this matter as the parent has a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel about the Council’s decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Miss B, complained that the Council had unreasonably withdrawn its offer of a place for her son (‘C’) at her preferred infant school.

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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. In particular, the law says we normally cannot investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Miss B provided with her complaint and her comments in response to a draft version of this decision. I also took account of the Council’s response to my enquiries in Miss B’s case.

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What I found

4. C was due to start school in September 2019. Miss B made an on-time application to the Council for a school place.
5. On national offer day in April the Council offered a place for C at Miss B’s second preference school (‘the School’), and she accepted the offer.
6. In August the Council contacted Miss B asking for proof she was living at the address she gave on her application form. This followed an earlier visit the Council made to Miss B’s address when it found the property unoccupied and undergoing renovations.
7. Miss B sent the Council evidence of living at her application address. But she also told the School she was temporarily away from the property while her landlord carried out repairs.
8. Miss B took C to the School for an induction half-day on the day before the start of the September 2019 term. But the School would not allow C in. It then emerged that the Council had withdrawn its offer of a place for C on the basis Miss B had not provided sufficient evidence she was living at her application address, and she was now living in a different property.

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Analysis

9. However I have reached the view that we should not start an investigation of Miss B’s complaint.
10. In particular, the law says we normally cannot investigate complaints where someone has a right of appeal to a statutory tribunal, unless it is not reasonable to expect the person to go to appeal.
11. Education appeal panels are statutory tribunals which hear appeals about decisions not to offer a child a place at a particular school.
12. Miss B clearly disagrees with the Council’s decision to withdraw its offer of a place for C at the School. But the law provides a right of appeal to an education appeal panel about this matter, and I see no reason not to expect Miss B use that appeal right in order to try and resolve the main issue in her complaint.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council has unreasonably withdrawn its offer of a place for her son at her preferred infant school. This is because Miss B has a right of appeal to an education appeal panel regarding this matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman