Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council withdrawing a school place. This is because we could not achieve anything more.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complained the Council wrongly told him his appeal for a school place had been successful. The Council then withdrew the place when it realised it had made a mistake. Mr X wants the Council to offer his son a place at his preferred school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X applied for a secondary school place for his son. The Council did not offer a place at Mr X’s preferred school. Mr X appealed the decision to an independent appeal panel. After the appeal, Mr X received a letter saying his appeal had been successful and Mr X told his son. The Council then realised that due to a “technical error” it had sent the wrong letter. It called Mr X and sent an email saying his appeal had been unsuccessful. In response to our enquiries, it apologised again. The Council said that if Mr X had bought a school uniform he could not return, he should contact the Council.
6. While I understand Mr X’s frustrations, we will not start an investigation into his complaint. The School Admissions Code is clear that a place can be withdrawn if offered in error. Also, the panel actually refused Mr X’s appeal original and did not offer a place. But the wrong decision letter was then sent. It is unlikely we could achieve anything more than the Council has already offered. Further consideration by the Ombudsman is not therefore appropriate.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman