Portsmouth City Council (24 016 006)
Category : Education > Alternative provision
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to acknowledge that the complainant is providing his child with suitable education and has failed to answer questions he has put to it. This is because we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant is seeking.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to acknowledge that he is providing his child with suitable education and has failed to answer questions he has put to it.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide 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 X’s child is educated otherwise than at school. Mr X says he is providing a suitable education and complains that the Council has refused to acknowledge this. The correspondence he has provided shows that the Council has indicated that it is considering taking attendance action.
- In the course of his complaint about the Council’s refusal to accept that his son is receiving suitable education, Mr X has put a number of questions to the Council. He complains that they have not all been answered. He wants the Council to confirm that he is providing his child with a suitable education.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome he is seeking. It is not for us to express a view on whether Mr X’s child is receiving a suitable education, or to ask the Council to confirm this. That is a matter for the professional judgement of the Council’s officers and we cannot intervene to substitute an alternative view.
- Whether the Council has chosen to answer all of the questions Mr X put to it is not significant. Its final complaint response sets out its position on the matter clearly. If it decides to pursue attendance action, Mr X will have the opportunity to defend his position in court. There is no role for the Ombudsman.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman