Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her application for a school place. It is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about the Council’s handling of her application for a school place for her daughter (Y). Mrs X says the Council offered an inappropriate school and left Y without a suitable education – ignoring her requests for alternative provision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (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. Mrs X’s daughter (Y) previously attended an independent school. On 24 July 2024 Mrs X applied for Y to attend various schools. Because all the schools were full the Council refused Mrs X’s application. It offered a place at an alternative school.
6. Mrs X complained to the Council about the school offered. She said it was unsuitable and the Council had ignored information she had provided about this. Mrs X also complained the Council had ignored her requests it provide her daughter with alternative education while waiting for a school place.
7. The Council accepted the placed offered was unsuitable and its Fair Access Panel considered her case. Mrs X received an offer at an alternative school on 25 September with a place available from 07 October.
8. In response to Mrs X’s complaints the Council accepted it had missed opportunities to avoid offering an unsuitable school. It also said there had been issues with communication and it had failed to respond to Mrs X’s requests for alternative education. However, because steps were in place to secure a school place for Y, it was not necessary to progress with an offer of alternative education.
9. While I understand Mrs X’s frustrations, we will not start an investigation into her complaint. The Council has accepted there were certain issues, apologised, and it has also set out service improvements. The time taken to offer a place was not long enough to represent fault by the Council or to warrant us recommending any extra remedies. We would not expect a council to provide alternative education when processing an application for a school place. If we were to investigate it is therefore unlikely we would achieve a different outcome.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely our involvement would lead to a different outcome or add anything to the Council’s response.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman