Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s alleged removal of a local school from its catchment area by postcode dataset. This is because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions. In addition, Mrs X has not suffered a personal injustice due to this matter.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council removed the School from its catchment area by postcode dataset. She says the result of this action is that parents in the School’s area, using their own postcode to search for schools whose catchment they are in:
• will not have the School come up as an option; and
• will not be able to find accurate information on eligibility for free school transport to the School on the School Catchment and Transport Eligibility Maps.
2. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with 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.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X complained the Council had removed a local school from its catchment area by postcode dataset and parents in the School’s area would be unable to use their postcodes to access information regarding eligibility for free school transport.
6. The Council told Mrs X it did not have governance over catchment areas for foundation schools, and it was the School’s responsibility to inform the Council of its catchment area. The Council confirmed it was communicating with the school regarding this matter and updating the information.
7. Mrs X wants us to find the Council at fault for failing to update its mapping system and consequently withdrawing free school transport. The Council has confirmed it is liaising with the school in question and will update its system accordingly. This is a reasonable action for the Council to take. Further, Mrs X is not directly affected by the situation and therefore is unlikely to experience a personal injustice as a result.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we would be unlikely to find fault with the Council’s actions. Additionally, Mrs X is not likely to have experienced a personal injustice due to this matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman