7. The law says we cannot investigate a complaint where a person has (or had) the option to take legal action, unless we consider this is (or was) unreasonable in the circumstances. We have discussed this with Mr E to understand his circumstances and the outcomes he wants. We do not consider whether legal action would succeed but whether it would be a reasonable option to look into.
8. Mr E told us he wants to explore taking legal action against the organisations and has been thinking about this, but does not know how to do this. He thinks there are systemic failings as pupils from the school have been making allegations since 2007, with him raising concerns from 2019 to 2022. He says the intelligence was there for years but Ofsted and DfE did not take it seriously or intervene and this has had a lasting impact, particularly on his mental health.
9. He said he is seeking acknowledgement, an apology, explanations, service improvements, and financial remedy. He is unsure of the amount of financial remedy he wants at this stage. We discussed that he may have legal recourse and he would need legal advice to determine what type of claim he may be able to pursue and if that is possible. As Mr E is interesting in pursuing legal action, this would be the best option to explore at this stage. This is particularly because he did not get answers to why nobody took his concerns seriously or intervened sooner during a meeting he had with Ofsted on 17 November 2025.
10. Additionally, it appears as though there has been some level of acknowledgement from Ofsted that things went wrong or may have gone wrong. Mr E said Ofsted told him during the meeting in November 2025 that it was putting more staff training in place and particularly considering how to get better information and intelligence on time. We consider this would be an appropriate route to pursue in relation to DfE too, as his concerns are the same for this organisation therefore it would make sense to obtain legal advice on pursuing a claim about both organisations.
11. As discussed, it may be the case that Mr E receives the acknowledgement, apology, service improvements and explanations he wants as a result of a successful claim.
12. If Mr E has any outstanding outcomes which have not been achieved through legal action, he can return to us with his complaint. If he wants to do this, we would urge him to do so as soon as possible, as we usually only consider complaints made to us within a year of an individual becoming aware they have a reason to complain. Taking legal action will not act as a negative factor in respect of timing, so long as he returns to us promptly after it. If Mr E does take legal action, we would need to wait for this to conclude before we consider if any issues are outstanding. I am happy to work on Mr E’s case if he returns to us, given the time I have already spent speaking to him about it and I have already reviewed information sent to us by Ofsted and DfE.
13. We signposted Mr E to the Citizens Advice Bureau for getting some advice on who to contact for support with the legal options available to him and starting legal proceedings and he said he would contact them.
14. We consider legal action is appropriate for all aspects of Mr E’s complaint and that it may address the all the outcomes he is seeking, therefore we have decided not to consider the complaint further.
15. We appreciate how distressing the events have been and continue to be for Mr E and we are grateful to him for bringing this complaint to our attention.