Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council removing his child from the list of children being considered for a specialist nursery provision in 2022. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council removed his child from the list of children being considered for a specialist nursery provision in 2022. He says this caused his child to miss out on a year and a half of specialist nursery provision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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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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My assessment

5. Mr X’s child, B, was referred to the Council’s preschool advisory group in December 2021. This group makes decisions as to whether a child requires a specialist nursery provision. B was discussed during a panel meeting in February 2022, but no further action was taken as B was awaiting assessments.
6. The Council did not follow up or bring B back to the panel for discussions. While this appears to have been due to some confusing information provided by B’s nursery, we are likely to find fault with the Council for this. This is because the Council should have ensured B’s situation was fully discussed and decided given the referral made.
7. I am satisfied, on balance, that if not for the likely fault, the Council would have agreed to a specialist nursery provision for B for the academic year 2022/23. This is because the Council accepted in June 2023 that a specialist placement was appropriate. The likely fault therefore caused missed opportunity for B to secure a specialist nursery provision earlier. I am also satisfied the likely fault will have caused distress, frustration, and uncertainty to Mr X.
8. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by the likely fault by making a symbolic payment of £800. This is made up of £500 to recognise the missed opportunity, which is an injustice to B, and £300 to recognise the distress, frustration, and uncertainty caused to Mr X.

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Agreed action

9. To its credit, the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within four weeks of the final decision.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman