Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the school place offered to her son. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complains her home address no longer has a school catchment area. This is because the local schools are now academies. Mrs X’s application for a place at her local school was refused and she is unhappy with the school place offered.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. School admission appeal panels are independent tribunals which consider appeals about refusals of applications for school places.
4. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman does not have jurisdiction to consider academy admission appeals. The body who looks at academy admission appeals is the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

Background

6. Academies are independent, state-funded schools, which receive their funding directly from central government, rather than through a local authority. Schools controlled by councils can apply to become academies. The Academy Trust (governing body) becomes the admission authority, and can make important decisions, such as what admission arrangements the school will operate. This can include whether the school operates a catchment area.
7. Councils remain responsible for coordinating applications for school places. But they offer places based on each academy’s admission arrangements.
8. Councils have a duty to ensure there are sufficient school places within their area. If a council cannot offer a place at any of the schools a parent applies for, they need to offer a place at the next nearest school with spaces. In some cases, this might be a considerable distance from home.
9. Parents whose application for a school place are refused can appeal the decision to an independent panel. The panel needs to consider if the school’s admission arrangements are lawful, and if they were properly applied to the parents’ application. In appeals for secondary schools, the panel needs to decide if admitting further children would cause ‘prejudice’ to the school. If the panel decides it would, they need to decide if the parents’ case outweighs the prejudice to the school.

What happened

10. Mrs X applied for a place at her local school. This is now an academy and does not have a catchment area. Mrs X’s son was not offered a place at her local school. Most other schools in the local area are also academies. Mrs X is unhappy with the school place the Council offered. Mrs X unsuccessfully appealed for a place at her local school. Mrs X has now accepted a place outside of the local area.

Assessment

11. I understand Mrs X is disappointed her home address does not have a catchment school. But this is not a decision the Council can control. It cannot stop schools becoming academies and choosing to not operate catchment areas. There is no requirement for councils to ensure each address is in a catchment area, and the conversion of schools to academies would make this impossible. The Council has offered Mrs X an alternative school as required. While I understand Mrs X’s frustrations, there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
12. During Mrs X’s appeal for a place at her preferred school, the panel should have considered the school’s admission arrangements and if they were properly determined and applied. If Mrs X has any concerns about how the appeal was carried out, she can complain to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman