Decision Report 201602676

Summary

Mr C said the council did not made reasonable arrangements to keep him informed about the education of his children. Mr C was living apart from his children in another part of the UK. We found the council strategy was supportive of parental involvement. We found the school had made reasonable arrangements to keep Mr C informed, and arranged consultations around his needs when he could not attend the usual parent consultations held twice a year.

We found evidence that the arrangements did not always work perfectly. For example, there was a delay in getting the school newsletter to Mr C when an email bounced back. There was also disagreement over three emails Mr C said were sent, which the council said the school did not receive. Whilst there were some problems with communication, we found no evidence this was the result of fault or failure on the part of the school.

We found the council's response contained an inaccuracy as it referred to a request for a meeting which had not been made. We noted that any inaccuracy in responding to complaints was unhelpful and that responses to complaints should always reflect the facts according to the evidence. However, we were satisfied that Mr C received a prompt and reasonable response to his complaint.