Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about how much funding the Council provided to her child’s school. This is because the complaint relates to the internal management of the school, and the law says we cannot investigate.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to provide sufficient funding to her child, Y’s, school to ensure Y’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) were met.
2. Miss X says the matter has caused her frustration.
3. Miss X wants the Council to reassess the funding provided to the school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X has a child, Y, who is in a key stage transition year at school. Miss X said Y has Special Educational Needs (SEN). Y does not have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
9. The Council has an additional funding mechanism known as the “Individual Pupil Resourcing Agreement” (IPRA). It allocated funding to Y’s school as part of their transition.
10. Miss X disagreed with the amount of funding allocated to the school for Y. She said the Council should increase the amount of funding to enable Y’s school to meet their needs.
11. In response to Miss X’s complaint the Council explained the funding paid to schools is a matter for the school to discuss with the Council. It said it had started an EHC needs assessment of Y to understand their needs. It signposted Miss X to Y’s school for additional support.

Analysis

12. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the amount of funding allocated to Y’s school and the subsequent impact on the support provided to them at the school. The consequence of Miss X’s complaint is that Miss X believes the school does not have sufficient funding to meet her child’s needs. The law says we cannot investigate most complaints how children are educated in schools on a day-to-day basis; therefore, we cannot investigate this complaint.
13. The Council informed Miss X that it is conducting an EHC needs assessment of Y. This is the correct process to identify whether Y requires an EHC Plan to meet their needs.

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Final decision

14. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it relates to internal school matters which the Ombudsman has no power to investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman