My child does not have a school place and my local authority has failed to arrange alternative education. I have complained to it about this. Does this mean now I cannot use the judicial review process?

Making a complaint may mean that you can no longer use the judicial review process. 

Judicial review involves a court looking at the decision of a public body and deciding whether it was made in a lawful, fair and reasonable manner.  

It is used when the matter is urgent and cannot be resolved any other way.  

Sometimes, following a local authority’s (LA) complaints procedure will not be a realistic and effective way of solving the issue. For example, when an LA is acting unlawfully, the issue is serious and urgent and the complaints process would take too long to resolve it. 

If you have made a complaint, this process will have started which suggests there is another way of resolving the matter and/or that the matter is not urgent.  

However, please get legal advice from a solicitor as soon as possible to see whether, in your situation, judicial review may still be available as a remedy. This might be because for example the situation was not urgent before but has become urgent since you made your complaint.