The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to a complaint about the actions of a school. This is because the law prevents us from considering the substantive matter.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council failed to respond properly to his complaint about the school his son attended.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr B complained to his son’s school about his son’s experiences there, which he says have left him unable to attend mainstream school.
Mr B was not satisfied with the outcome of the school’s complaint process and escalated the matter to the Council. He complains that the Council’s investigation of his concerns was unsatisfactory, and that it failed to inform him of its outcome.
We will not investigate this complaint because the substantive matter falls outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The law says the Ombudsman cannot consider what happens in schools. This includes anything to do with provision for special educational needs for a pupil without an Education Health and Care Plan. We cannot therefore consider the substantive matter which led to the complaint or the governing body’s response to Mr B’s complaint about it.
Given that the substantive matter does not fall to be investigated, we will not investigate how the Council responded to Mr B’s subsequent complaint to it. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by a council concerning a matter which is outside our jurisdiction. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because the law prevents us from considering the substantive matter.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman