Kent County Council (19 009 689)

Statement Not upheld School transport 17-Jun-2020

Summary: Mr B complains that the Council was wrong to refuse his younger son, D, transport to and from the grammar school that he attends. There was no fault in the way that the Council refused transport for D or Mr B’s subsequent appeal.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (19 014 405)

Statement Upheld School transport 16-Jun-2020

Summary: Mr X complained about the way the Council dealt with his application and appeal for help with transport for his 18-year-old son who has special educational needs to attend college. The Ombudsman finds there was fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to arrange a fresh appeal hearing and review its policy on post-16 education transport.

Warrington Council (19 011 636)

Statement Upheld School transport 11-Jun-2020

Summary: Miss L complained about the Council’s decision to refuse her request for transport to school for her son, M, who has an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school. There is evidence of fault and the Council has agreed to reimburse her mileage, pay for M’s lost education provision and to make a payment to acknowledge her time and trouble.

Manchester City Council (19 012 069)

Statement Not upheld School transport 09-Jun-2020

Summary: There was no fault by the Council in the way it considered Ms X’s application for free home to school transport. The complaint is not upheld.

Warrington Council (19 010 915)

Statement Upheld School transport 08-Jun-2020

Summary: Ms B complains about the way the Council considered her application for post-16 home to school transport for her son who has special educational needs. The Ombudsman finds the Council was at fault because Ms B was not given the opportunity to present her case at the panel hearing and it applied the wrong test in deciding her application and appeal. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms B, pay her £400 and review its home to school transport policy.

Suffolk County Council (19 014 261)

Statement Upheld School transport 01-Jun-2020

Summary: Mr B complains about the way the Council handled his appeal against its decision to refuse his application for free school transport. There was fault by the Council and it should apologise to Mr B.

London Borough of Redbridge (18 018 254)

Statement Upheld School transport 26-May-2020

Summary: Mr and Mrs B complained the Council did not support them when they had to move to a new borough after evacuating their home. They complained the Council did not provided their children with school transport, carry out welfare checks or give them information about grants they could access. They also complained the Council did not provide school places or transport when they returned to the borough. The Ombudsman has found fault with the Council. The Council remedied any injustice before the complaint was brought to the Ombudsman.

Buckinghamshire County Council (19 017 935)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 11-May-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council has dealt with the complainant’s son’s EHC plan. This is because part of the complaint has already been considered by a SEND tribunal, and it is unlikely we would find any significant injustice caused by the other parts of the complaint.

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (19 020 819)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 27-Apr-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council has considered his application and appeal for transport to school for his daughter. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and so we cannot question the merits of its decisions.

Herefordshire Council (19 020 184)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 22-Apr-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman does not propose to investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her application for school transport. This is because the complaint is late, and if Miss X wanted to challenge the decision not to provide transport, it was reasonable for her to use the Council’s own appeals process.