Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an unsuccessful appeal for a school place. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered the appeal to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to refuse his school admissions appeal.
2. Mr X also complains about the decision of three Academies to refuse his appeals.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as Academies. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. Our role is to review the process by which decisions are made. We consider if there was fault during the decision-making process and if that fault caused the person complaining a significant injustice.
9. The Council’s appeal panel noted Y’s application was late and all available places at the school had been taken. It considered Mr X’s individual circumstances during the decision-making process in line with its published policy. It reviewed Y’s application against its distance criteria and found no good reason to award the place to Y. I appreciate Mr X is unhappy, however I will not investigate his complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the way the panel considered the matter and made its decision.
10. I cannot investigate appeals to Academies because these bodies are not in our jurisdiction.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman