Summary: A parent complained about the Council’s handling of her application for a school place for her son. She also complained about the way the school admissions appeal panel dealt with her appeal about the refusal of a place at her preferred primary school. But we have no reason to start an investigation of these matters. This is because the Council has now offered a place at the school, and we could not achieve a more favourable outcome than that.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mrs B, complained about the way the Council processed her application for a place for her son (‘C’) at her preferred primary school (‘the School’). Mrs B also complained about hurtful comments made by the appeal panel which considered her appeal regarding the refusal of a place at the School, and about the panel’s decision to turn down her appeal.

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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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe it is unlikely an investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The law says we normally cannot investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal such as a school admissions appeal panel, and we cannot investigate if someone has already appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs B provided with her complaint. I also gave Mrs B an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision before I reached a final view in her case. In addition I took account of information the Council supplied in response to our enquiries about Mrs B’s complaint.

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What I found

5. When Mrs B made her application for a school place for C in 2019 she was living in another area. But as Mrs B was expecting to move to the Council’s area soon, she applied for schools near her intended new home, including the School.
6. Mrs B subsequently moved home after the closing date for applications but before school places were allocated. However she did not provide the Council with proof of her new address until after national offer day. Mrs B said she had problems obtaining the necessary proofs, and that it was difficult to get through to the Council at that time.
7. But as a result of this Mrs B’s application was decided based on her old address and therefore her applications for all of her preferred schools were turned down.
8. Mrs B said she continued to have difficulties communicating with the Council. But she was able to put in an appeal about the refusal of a place at the School. However the independent appeal panel rejected her appeal.
9. Mrs B was unhappy with the panel’s decision. She also said the panel made hurtful comments to her at the hearing.
10. Mrs B later complained to us about these matters and we made enquiries to the Council. But in its recent response to our enquiries the Council informed us that it had just offered C a place at the School.

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Analysis

11. In the circumstances I consider that we now do not have reason to start an investigation of Mrs B’s complaint.
12. In particular we usually do not investigate complaints about councils’ decisions regarding applications for school places. This is because parents have a right of appeal to an appeal panel about those decisions, and the law says that normally we cannot pursue complaints where someone can appeal to a statutory tribunal such as a school admissions appeal panel.
13. We can investigate complaints about fault by panels in the way they consider appeals. But we have no power to direct a council to allocate a school place for a child. Where we find serious fault in an appeal process, the most we can usually recommend as a remedy is for the Council to hold a fresh appeal heard by a different panel.
14. So even if we investigated Mrs B’s complaint about the panel and found fault which had affected its decision, I do not see we could achieve a more favourable outcome for her complaint than the one the Council has already provided in offering C a place at the School.

Final decision

15. We have no reason to start an investigation of Mrs B’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her application for a school place for her son, and the way the appeal panel dealt with her appeal concerning the refusal of a place at her preferred school. This is because we could not achieve a better outcome for Mrs B now that the Council has offered a place for her son at the school she wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman