Liverpool City Council (24 004 190)
Category : Education > School admissions
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Jun 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with Miss X’s application for a school place. This is because it is reasonable for Miss X to use her right of appeal.
The complaint
- The complainant, Miss X, complained the Council had not offered her daughter a place at any of her preferred schools. Miss X questions if the Council took into account the information she provided. Miss X wants the Council to offer her daughter a place at one of her preferred schools.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone has a right of appeal, reference or review to a tribunal about the same matter. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to use this right. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
- School admission appeal panels are tribunals which hear appeals about decisions on applications for school places.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We will not start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint.
- Miss X has the right to appeal the decision not to offer her child a place at any of her preferred schools to a school admission appeal panel. These panels are statutory tribunals. When a person can appeal to a tribunal, we expect them to use this right unless it is unreasonable for them to do so. The panel can consider how Miss X’s application has been dealt with by the Council and the schools she applied to. Appeal panels can offer an appellant’s child a school place. This is the outcome Miss X wants but is not something we can achieve. It is therefore reasonable for her to appeal and so we will not investigate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable for her to use her right of appeal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman