The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the decision to refuse the complainant’s application and appeal for a school place for her son. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss B, complains that the Council was at fault in refusing her son’s application and appeal for a school place.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether an independent school admissions appeals panel’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider if there was fault in the way the decision was reached. If we find fault, which calls into question the panel’s decision, we may ask for a new appeal hearing. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
The complainant has had the opportunity to comment on a draft of my decision.
My assessment
Miss B applied for a school place for her son for transfer to secondary school in September 2022. She says she received no information about the need to apply before the closing date and was unable to do adequate research about the availability of transport to school.
Having submitted her application, Miss B asked the Council to allow her to change her preferences in order to remove her second-choice school. She says the Council refused her request and, when it issued its decisions, offered a place at the second-choice school. She argues that this school is not accessible for her son.
Miss B asked the Council to allocate her son a place at her third-choice school. As the available places had been allocated, the Council did not do so.
Miss B appealed against the Council's decision. She made a written appeal and attended the appeal hearing to make her case in person.
Having considered the arguments made by Miss B and the Council's representative, the school admission appeal panel decided to refuse the appeal. Miss B complains about the appeal panel’s conduct and believes it failed to give proper weight to her grounds of appeal.
School admission appeals panels must follow the law when considering an appeal. The panel must consider whether: the admission arrangements comply with the law; the admission arrangements were properly applied to the case.
The panel must then consider whether admitting another child would prejudice the education of others. If the panel finds there would be prejudice the panel must then consider each appellant's individual arguments. If the panel decides the appellant's case outweighs the prejudice to the school, it must uphold the appeal.
The Ombudsman does not question the merits of decisions properly taken. The panel is entitled to come to its own judgment about the evidence it hears.
The clerk's notes of Miss B's appeal hearing show she was able to make her case and that the panel considered it. The evidence the Council presented at the appeal demonstrated that there was no fault in the administration of Miss B’s application, and also set out its contention that further admission to the school would prejudice the delivery of education. Miss B had the opportunity to question the Council’s evidence.
It was for the panel to decide how much weight to give to the evidence. There is no evidence of fault in the way it made its decision. The notes show the panel understood Miss B’s case and the Council’s decision letter properly sets out the reasons for the outcome.
Without evidence of fault, we cannot criticise the decision the panel made, or intervene to substitute an alternative view. There are therefore no grounds to investigate the complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman