North Northamptonshire Council (24 015 239)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about delays in offering a school place as the Council has agreed to a proportionate way to resolve the complaint.
The complaint
- Miss X says her child, D, missed education because the Council delayed in processing a school admission’s application.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X says she formally asked in June 2024 for a place in School Y to start at the beginning of term in September 2024. She says the Council did not offer a place until late September 2024. Miss X says she has learnt the place had been available since July but had not been offered to them. She says the delay led to the family employing a private tutor and caused problems to their working lives.
- If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice because the Council has avoidably delayed in offering the school place which led to D missing a month’s education.
Agreed action
- The Council has previously set out in its reply to Miss X service improvements to help prevent a reoccurrence.
- The Council has agreed to a symbolic payment of £300 to reflect the injustice caused by the delay. This is a suitable remedy as it is inline with our Guidance on Remedies.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman