Summary: A parent complained that the Council had mishandled his application for a school place for his son and that, as a result, his son had not been put on his preferred school’s waiting list. But we have no reason to start an investigation of this matter. This is because the child has now been offered a place at the school in question.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr B, complained that the Council did not deal properly with his application for his son (‘C’) to be admitted to his preferred grammar school (‘the School’). Mr B complained in particular that the Council had delayed in processing his application and had failed to add C to the School’s waiting list.

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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 we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, 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

3. I considered the information Mr B provided with his complaint. I also gave Mr B a chance to comment on a draft of this decision before I reached a final view in his case. In addition, I took account of information the Council provided in response to my enquiries about Mr B’s complaint.

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What I found

4. C is due to start at secondary school this September.
5. Mr B’s family lives in another county, but Mr B wanted to apply for a grammar school for C in the Council’s area.
6. C scored well in the eleven plus exam for grammar schools in the Council’s area. Mr B then applied directly to his preferred schools.
7. However Mr B later found out that he should have made the application to his local authority in the first instance. But by the time he discovered this it was past the deadline for applications.
8. Mr B’s local authority passed on his application for the School to the Council. But as his application was late it was considered after all the on-time cases. By then all the places at the School had been taken by applicants who applied before the deadline.
9. Mr B contacted the Council with concerns about how his application had been dealt with. But he was unhappy with its responses, particularly about whether C had been put on the School’s waiting list. Mr B then complained to us.
10. I made enquiries to the Council about Mr B’s complaint. In response the Council informed me that C had been offered a place at the School in April 2021.

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Analysis

11. In the circumstances we would not be justified in starting an investigation of Mr B’s complaint
12. In particular, Mr B has now achieved the outcome he wanted from his application for a school place, which was to see C admitted to the School. As a result I am not convinced there is anything else to be gained by us looking into whether there was any fault by the Council in Mr B’s case.
13. In particular, even if we found the Council was at fault in its handling of Mr B’s application we would not be able to recommend a more favourable remedy than the offer of a place for C at the School.

Final decision

14. We do not have reason to start an investigation of Mr B’s complaint about the way the Council handled his application for a school place for his son. This is because Mr B’s son has now been given a place at his preferred school, and we could not achieve a better outcome for him than that.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman