Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint his child did not receive appropriate education provision. This complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to complain to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains his child did not receive the education provision he was entitled to. He also complains the school wrongly shared sensitive data about his child, made harmful accusations, failed to safeguard his child and did not investigate his complaints properly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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 Mr X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complained his child, who has an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP), did not receive an appropriate education in 2023 and 2024. He said the school did not meet his learning needs. He removed his child from the school at the end of the summer term 2024 and enrolled him in a new school for September 2024.
9. This complaint is late. Mr X complained to the school in early 2024. Mr X did not complain to the Council until October 2025. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman in January 2026. There are no good reasons for us to investigate this matter. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. It was reasonable for Mr X to refer the matter to us sooner.
10. In any case, even if the complaint was not late, we could not investigate because it concerns the action of a school. The law prevents us from investigating the actions of schools.
11. Mr X also says the school shared data about his child. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) is better placed to consider concerns about data protection.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint his child did not receive appropriate education provision. This complaint is late and it would have been reasonable for Mr X to complain to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman