Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to process an application for a school place. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council for us to be able to question its actions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complained the Council wrongly processed a change of school application for her child. Miss X says the Council failed to properly check the applicant had a right to apply for a change of school and if they had parental responsibility.

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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. (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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What I found

Legislation

5. Under the Children Act 1989, any parent with parental responsibility can make decisions about their child’s education. Councils must treat all parents equally unless a court order limits a parent’s rights. There is nothing in law which requires a council to obtain proof of parental responsibility or consent from both parents when dealing with an application for a school place. The School Admissions Code allows admission authorities to ask for proof of address to assign a school’s oversubscription criteria. They can also ask for proof of a date of birth once a place has been offered. Admission authorities can ask for additional information unless it is prohibited by the Code.

Assessment

6. While I recognise Miss X’s concerns, we will not start an investigation into her complaint.
7. Based on the information I have seen the applicant indicated they had parental responsibility. I have also not seen any evidence to the contrary. The applicant was therefore entitled to apply for a change of school. I have not seen any court orders preventing a change of school or requiring both parents to agree to such a change. I have not seen any evidence of such information being given to the Council. During the processing of the application and while considering Miss X’s complaint the Council requested and viewed additional information. It decided there was nothing to prevent a change of school taking place. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council for us to criticise its actions or to warrant our further involvement. We will not therefore investigate.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman