Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council’s Schools Admissions Appeal Panel failed to provide her child with a place at their preferred school. It is unlikely the Ombudsman would find fault which caused them to lose out on a school place.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, says the Council’s Schools Admissions Appeal Panel did not properly consider her appeal for a place for her child, D, at School Y.

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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 cannot question whether a school admissions appeals panel’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider if there was fault in the way the decision was reached. If we find fault, which calls into question the panel’s decision, we may ask for a new appeal hearing. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
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 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, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. This complaint involves events that occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the Council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Principles of Good Administrative Practice during Covid”.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Ms X provided with her complaint. The Council provided me with the notes from the Appeal Panel hearing, the documents the Appeal Panel had and its decision letter. I considered Ms X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

Background information

6. Ms X applied in February for a place for her child, D, to start immediately in Year One as she had moved into the area. D’s sibling was offered a place in another year group, but year one was full. The Council allocated D a place at an alternative school.
7. Ms X decided to start the sibling at School Y and appealed for a place for D at the School Y. After the schools closed in March, the head teacher at School Y offered to have D in School Y on the days that Ms X worked as a key worker. They did so on the understanding the Covid education guidance did not expect children to attend necessarily their allocated school and School Y had space within its key worker groups for D.
8. From 1 June onwards, School Y was not able to provide a key worker place for D.
9. Ms X appealed the decision not to award a place at the School Y for D, to an Independent Appeal Panel. It considered the case in June 2020 by video conference. Mrs X told the Appeal Panel that:
• D had settled in at School Y and met new friends during lockdown;
• She had big logistical difficulties getting two kids to two schools;
• She wanted both siblings at the same school;
10. The Appeal Panel refused Ms X’s appeal and she complained to us. She says:
• D settled so well at School Y during lockdown that it is not fair to move her;
• She has great logistical difficulties getting two children to different schools;
• D is very upset at having to go to School Y.

Analysis

The appeals panel’s and Ombudsman’s role

11. Independent appeal panels must follow the law when considering an appeal. The law says the size of an infant class must not be more than 30 pupils per teacher. There are only limited circumstances in which more than 30 children can be admitted. These are called excepted pupils.
12. There are special rules governing appeals for Reception and Years 1 and 2. Appeals under these rules are known as “infant class size appeals”. The rules say the panel must consider whether:
• admitting another child would breach the class size limit;
• the admission arrangements comply with the law:
• the admission arrangements were properly applied to the case:
• the decision to refuse a place was one which a reasonable authority would have made in the circumstances.
13. What is ‘reasonable’ is a high test. The panel needs to be sure that to refuse a place was “perverse” or “outrageous”. For that reason, panels rarely find an admission authority’s decision to be unreasonable in light of the admission arrangements.
14. If the Panel decides the reasons for granting a place on appeal have been met, then that extra child becomes an ‘excepted’; child for the infant class size rules. It means the school can go over 30 and not breach the law.
15. We cannot question the decision if it has been properly taken. If the Panel has been properly informed, and used the correct procedure, then it is entitled to come to its own judgment about the evidence it hears.

The appeal in this complaint

16. The Council clearly told Ms X before the appeal the place had been refused because of the Infant Class Size rules. It also clearly explained what this meant.
17. The Appeal Panel decided that admitting another child would breach the infant class limit for the school year 2020/21. There will be 30 pupils per teacher. A school can only admit more than 30 pupils per teacher if the extra pupils are classified as excepted pupils. D does not meet the criteria as an excepted pupil.
18. The Appeal Panel considered the admission arrangements and decided they complied with the law.
19. The Appeal Panel was also satisfied that the admission arrangements had been properly applied in this case.
20. The Appeal Panel’s decision letter records the reasons Ms X presented at the Appeal Panel for wanting a place. It is clear the Appeal Panel considered Ms X’s reasons for wanting a place and decided the decision to refuse a place was one which a reasonable authority would have made in the circumstances and in light of the admission arrangements.
21. It is unlikely we would find fault in the Appeal Panel’s decision. The information I have seen supports the Appeal Panel’s decision.

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Final decision

22. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman