Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s querying of the elective home education Mrs X provides. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said the Council has wrongly deemed the elective home education she is providing for her children not adequate. She said she had confirmed the same information for many years and saw no good reason for the change of view.

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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. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. The correspondence the Council provided showed it had acted in accordance with government guidance. It showed it had also explained its position three times to Mrs X, including recent changes in its duties as set by the government since the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Final decision

5. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman