Summary: Mr X complained the Council did not provide suitable education for his child when they could not attend college. He said the Council’s actions caused his child to miss out on education. We have ended our investigation into this complaint because Mr X complained about issues too closely linked to another of his previous complaints which we have already considered, and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to provide suitable education when his child, Y, could not attend school or college for seven months. He said it arranged some tuition for Y, but this was not enough. He said Y has missed out on a significant amount of education due to the Council’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

What happened

6. Mr X previously complained to us about delays by the Council in securing Y’s educational placement from September 2024 until April 2025, which he said caused Y to miss out on education. We considered this complaint and decided we could not investigate it because the law about what we can and can’t investigate stopped us from doing so.
7. In the current complaint, Mr X raised issues about the Council failing to provide a suitable education when Y could not attend school or college between September 2024 and April 2025.

Analysis

8. When considering complaints about missed education, we also look at any provision a council secured during the time the child or young person could not attend school or college to decide what the level of injustice to the child or young person was.
9. Therefore, although Mr X has raised these as two distinct complaints, the issues are not separable due to the way we investigate these types of complaints.
10. We will not investigate this complaint as the issues are too closely linked to a complaint we have already considered and decided. Further investigation into this matter would therefore not lead to a different outcome from Mr X’s previous complaint.

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Decision

11. I have ended my investigation. The matters Mr X complained about are not separable from another of his complaints which we have already considered and decided, and we will not consider them again.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman