Council complaint dismissed

A complaint made against South Ayrshire Council over “two incidents” between two children at a primary school has been thrown out by a watchdog.

The local authority was under investigation following allegations they ‘ failed to follow child protection procedures’ following the incidents.

The complaint was raised by the parent/ guardian of one of the children, known only as ‘ C’ due to confidentiality reasons.

And the identities of all parties, including which school the pupils attend in South Ayrshire, has not been disclosed either.

In an statement from the Scottish Public Service Ombudsman ( SPSO) they said: “C complained about two incidents involving their child ( A) and another child at school.

“C said that child protection procedures should have been followed.

“We did not consider that C’s complaint was a child protection matter and therefore child protection procedures did not require to be followed.

“We did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.”

But the SPSO did say that the primary school involved in the controversy could have “managed the incidents better.”

The SPSO said: “We considered that the school could have managed the incidents better, particularly in relation to their communication with ‘ A’ so that they felt supported and respected.”

The parent/ guardian also complained that there was an “unreasonable delay” in the school advising them of the first incident.

However, the SPSO stated: “We considered that C was told within a reasonable period of time.

“We did not uphold this aspect of the complaint.”

The investigation also revealed that the complainant, ‘ C’, wanted an audio recording of a meeting they were due to have with a head teacher.

This was refused.

The SPSO said: “C complained about a refusal to allow them to take an audio recording of a meeting with the head teacher of the school. The head teacher was entitled to refuse this.

“We considered that the offer to bring someone to support C and the opportunity to comment on a minute of the meeting afterwards to be reasonable.”