Buckinghamshire Council (20 010 991)
Category : Education > Special educational needs
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 29 Mar 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint about the actions of the Council’s Special Educational Needs department, and about the Council’s response to his subsequent complaint. This is because Mr B makes his complaint in his capacity as Chair of Governors at a school.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council was at fault in its management of the placement of a child at a school, and in the response to his subsequent complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate complaints from public bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, section 27(1)(a), as amended)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr B has said in support of his complaint and the complaint correspondence provided by him and by the Council. I have considered what Mr B has said in response to a draft of this decision.
What I found
- Mr B is the Chair of Governors at a school. In that capacity he complained to the Council about the actions of its Special Educational Needs officers in relation to the placement of a child at the school. He believes the officers were at fault, and is also critical of the way the Council responded to his complaint.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is made on behalf of the governors of a school. School governors constitute a public body and complaints by them fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
- As the complaint concerns a matter which is outside our jurisdiction, we cannot investigate how the Council has responded to it.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is made on behalf of a public body.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman