Stoke-on-Trent City Council (19 008 733)

Statement Upheld School transport 15-Sep-2020

Summary: there is fault in Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s handling of its withdrawal of home to school transport for Ms F’s son who has special educational needs and attends a special needs school. There is also fault in its handling of her appeal against this decision. These faults have caused Ms F injustice in the form of avoidable frustration, distress, uncertainty and lost opportunity. The Council will take the recommended action to recognise this now.

Hertfordshire County Council (18 018 637)

Statement Not upheld School transport 14-Sep-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about school transport and the way a request for a personal budget/direct payment has been handled by the Council. This is it because it is reasonable to expect the complainant to use her appeals rights on the school transport issue and we are unlikely to achieve anything more by investigating the personal budget/direct payment issue.

Shropshire Council (19 010 360)

Statement Upheld School transport 09-Sep-2020

Summary: Ms B complains about the way the Council considered her application for home to school transport for her son who has special educational needs and mobility difficulties. The Ombudsman finds the Council was at fault because its appeal procedure does not comply with Government guidance. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms B and offer her a fresh appeal with a new panel, including the opportunity to attend the panel meeting and made verbal representations.

Northamptonshire County Council (19 010 596)

Statement Upheld School transport 08-Sep-2020

Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to refuse her application for home to school transport for her disabled son. The Ombudsman has found the Council to be at fault because it did not properly consider his disability and applied the wrong legal test. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to reconsider the application, apologise to Mrs X and review its policy to ensure compliance with the statutory guidance.

Brighton & Hove City Council (19 017 722)

Statement Not upheld School transport 03-Sep-2020

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s decision to refuse school transport assistance. He says his son is eligible as his mapping system shows the distance between home and school as more than two miles. The Ombudsman finds no fault with the Council’s decision.

Birmingham City Council (19 013 731)

Statement Upheld School transport 02-Sep-2020

Summary: Ms B complains that the Council wrongly refused to provide free home to school transport for her son, C, after he changed schools but, instead, agreed to provide a free bus pass. Ms B says travelling on public transport and walking through busy streets causes C distress and anxiety because he has autism, ADHD and learning difficulties. The Ombudsman finds fault in the way the Council considered Ms B’s appeal. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to apologise to Ms B and offer her a fresh appeal with a new panel, including the opportunity to attend the panel meeting and make verbal representations.

Suffolk County Council (20 002 035)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 02-Sep-2020

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

Birmingham City Council (19 014 905)

Statement Upheld School transport 26-Aug-2020

Summary: Mrs C complains that the Council did not properly deal with an application for transport assistance and not provided transport for her son, X. The Council is at fault because it delayed making a decision about her appeal and has not provided transport for X. X’s education has been affected because he has arrived late and missed lessons and Mrs C has had to pay for travel. The Council has agreed to write a letter of apology to X, pay Mrs C £500 for the distress caused to herself and X and £400 in respect of transport costs she incurred.

Royal Borough of Greenwich (19 015 275)

Statement Upheld School transport 24-Aug-2020

Summary: Ms A complained the Council failed to consider relevant information when it refused to provide her daughter with transport to and from school. There was fault by the Council because the appeal process was not in line with statutory guidance. However, this fault did not cause an injustice to Ms A.

Bedford Borough Council (19 012 676)

Statement Not upheld School transport 21-Aug-2020

Summary: Mrs X complains about the way the Council has handled school transport for her son. She disagrees with the Council’s decision to refuse her son school transport. She says the policies are unfair, and the appeal panel did not consider all the points she raised in her appeal. She says as a result she and her mother have to take her son to and from school. The Ombudsman does not find the Council at fault.