Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about an unsuccessful school admission appeal. This is because the Council has now offered Mr X’s child a place at his preferred school and so we could not achieve anything more.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about an unsuccessful school admission appeal for his child.

Back to top

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 an independent 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 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 further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
4. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

What I found

6. Mr X moved into the Council’s area and applied for his two children (Y and Z) to attend a local school. Because there were no places available for either child the Council refused his applications. Mr X attended an appeal for Y which was successful. Mr X says the Council lost the appeal papers for Z and so the hearing was delayed. When the appeal was held it was unsuccessful. Mr X says if the appeals were held together, Y and Z would have both been offered places. In response to my enquiries the Council said it had now offered Z a place.
7. As I explain in paragraph 2, we can consider how a panel considered a school admission appeal. If we find fault in the way the panel reached its decision, we can recommend a fresh appeal. But now the Council has offered Z a place there is nothing further we could achieve from an investigation. Mr X says if the appeals were held together then they both would have been successful, and a place would have been offered earlier. But this is not something we could ever say. The appeals were for different year groups containing different numbers of students. We will not therefore investigate.

Back to top

Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because we could not achieve anything more for Mr X.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman