Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to make alternative educational provision for the complainant’s son. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, complains that the Council has unreasonably refused her request for alternative educational provision for her son.

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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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X deregistered her son from school in 2023. She says he was unable to attend school due to unmet special educational needs. She has since requested an Education Health and Care Needs Assessment, which the Council has declined to carry out.
6. Mrs X has requested that the Council provide home tutoring for her son. She contends that it is required to do so under its duty to provide appropriate alternative educational provision for children unable to attend school. She points out that the Council has offered home tutoring for her other son who is in the same situation. The Council has declined Mrs X’s request.
7. The Council’s duty to provide alternative provision for children who cannot attend school is set out in section 19 of the Education Act 1996. It is not for the Ombudsman to take a view on whether that duty applies in a specific case. That is a matter for the Council.
8. In this case, the Council has decided that the section 19 duty is not engaged, and has suggested that it may be appropriate for Mrs X to consider placing her son back in school. Mrs X does not agree with this decision, but that does not mean it amounts to fault. The question for the Ombudsman is whether there was demonstrable fault in the way the Council made its decision. There is nothing to suggest that is the case.
9. The Council has properly set out the grounds for its decision and there is no evidence of fault in the way it reached its view. The fact that it took a different view in another case does not mean this decision is flawed. In the absence of evidence of fault in the way the Council made its decision, the Ombudsman cannot criticise it, or intervene to substitute an alternative view. There are therefore no grounds for us to investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman