Leeds City Council (19 011 411)

Category : Education > Special educational needs

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 06 Jul 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate Mr J’s complaint that the Council has not responded to his complaint about his son’s education. The Council has now written to Mr J and he can ask it to consider his complaint further if he is not satisfied. So there is nothing more we could achieve for Mr J at this stage.

The complaint

  1. Mr J complains that he has not heard from the Council since we asked it to consider his complaint about his son’s education.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the Council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the Council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered the information provided by Mr J, and information provided by the Council when I asked about its response to his complaint. I have considered Mr J’s comments on my draft decision.

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What I found

  1. Mr J’s son is looked after by the Council and has special educational needs (SEN). Last year, Mr J complained to us about the Council’s actions in respect of his son’s SEN. The Council had not had an opportunity to respond to this complaint so we asked it to do so.
  2. Mr J did not receive a response to his complaint from the Council. The Council has sent me a copy of the letter it sent him. This letter was wrongly addressed. The Council accepts it make this mistake and will now send the letter to Mr J at the correct address.
  3. If Mr J is not satisfied with the Council’s response, he can ask the Council to consider his complaint further under its usual complaints procedure. If he remains dissatisfied, he can bring the complaint back to us. But there is nothing further the Ombudsman can achieve at this stage.

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Final decision

  1. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because there is nothing further we can achieve at this stage.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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