Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to investigate the complainant’s further complaints and concerns. The Ombudsman has already investigated the substantial matter and is investigating another, and we will not reinvestigate issues which relate to, or could have been included in, those complaints. The remaining matters, in part, relate to the management of the school and the law prevents us from investigating this or there is insufficient injustice to warrant further investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council has
• Allowed incorrect people to deal with complaints,
• Failed to investigate complaints about individual members of staff,
• Failed to take his concerns about misconduct and safeguarding further, and
• Changed case workers due to his complaints but not recorded this.
2. He says he does not feel his concerns have been taken seriously. He feels the Council does not care about his daughter’s educational experience and is unwilling to try and take steps to resolve the situation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

4. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools unless it relates to special educational needs, when the schools are acting on behalf of the council to secure educational provision as set out in Section F of the young person’s Education, Health and Care Plan.
5.  

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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. Mr X’s daughter has been out of education since September 2024. He raised complaints with the school and the Council about her missing education. He also brought this complaint to the Ombudsman. He has since complained about teacher misconduct involved in her school absence, safeguarding concerns and concerns about how the school dealt with his complaint.
9. We cannot look at Mr X’s complaints about the way the school has dealt with his complaints including the comments made by school staff. We have, and are, considering Mr X’s complaints about whether his daughter was receiving a suitable full-time education, and we will not look at these matters again.
10. Any complaint about the way the school handled his concerns is not something we can consider as set out in paragraph four. It is reasonable for the Council to have declined to investigate these complaints for the same reasons.
11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints about the Council’s decision not to investigate complaints about individual members of staff. There is not enough injustice to warrant investigation as the substantial matters have or are already being considered.
12. We will not consider Mr X’s complaints about the change of case workers as there is not enough injustice caused to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have already investigated the substantial matter, there is insufficient injustice caused by the remaining issues and some of the complaint relates to management of the school.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman