Summary: A parent complained the Council had not taken sufficient action to ensure her child was admitted to her preferred school, or to provide home tuition meantime. But we will not investigate this complaint as there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Mrs X and the Council, and I gave Mrs X an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision before I reached a final view. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mrs X believes the Council has the power to direct the School to admit Y. But the Council’s powers of direction are limited to schools in its area. The School is in Council B’s area. Therefore, the Council cannot do what Mrs X wants it to.
5. Every council must have a Fair Access Protocol to ensure unplaced and vulnerable children in their area are allocated a school place as soon as possible.
6. Mrs X wants the Council to refer Y’s case to Council B’s Fair Access Panel to consider a placement at the School. But she said it is obstructing this process.
7. However, I do not see the Council has any responsibility to make a referral to Council B, or necessarily has any role in how Council B implements its Fair Access Protocol. I consider the Council has given suitable advice to Mrs X to contact Council B directly about this matter. I have not seen any evidence it has been obstructive in this respect.
8. Mrs X also feels the Council should take legal action against Council B to make it consider her application for the School. But I am not convinced there is any legal basis for the Council to take action, or any expectation on it to consider doing so.
9. The Council has offered Mrs X several schools for Y in its area. Mrs X has either refused the offers as unsuitable or later withdrawn Y from the school in question. Mrs X also provided the Council with information from a medical professional saying the School is the only one suitable for Y on medical grounds.
10. The law says councils must make suitable educational provision for children who are absent from school because of illness. The Council considered Mrs X’s medical information but was not satisfied there was enough evidence that Y could not attend schools other than the School. As a result, the Council decided it had no duty to offer Y home tuition, although it made some online provision.
11. We may not question councils’ decisions if there is no fault in the way they were made. The Council evidently considered the medical opinion Mrs X provided. But it was for the Council to decide if this was enough to trigger the duty to arrange home tuition. I do not see sign of fault in its decision-making about this matter.
12. The Council has designated Mrs X as an unreasonable complainant due to her frequent and repetitive correspondence with it. This means it has limited Mrs X’s contacts, and it does not necessarily register or investigate every complaint she makes. However, the Council said it had effectively responded in other correspondence to the issues Mrs X has raised in her recent complaints.
13. The Council’s actions in this respect are in line with its policy on unreasonable complainants. Therefore, I do not see we are likely to find fault with it for not considering Mrs X’s latest complaints under its complaints procedure.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint the Council has not taken sufficient action to ensure her child is admitted to her preferred school, or provided suitable home tuition in the interim. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman