Northumberland County Council (24 014 507)

Statement Not upheld School transport 15-Jun-2025

Summary: Miss T complained the Council did not properly consider her application for transport support for her child who attends an out of borough post-16 college. Miss T said as a result, the Council refused to award her child with transport support. The Council was not at fault in the way it considered and made its decision in Miss T’s case.

Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (24 015 718)

Statement Upheld School transport 12-Jun-2025

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to suitably consider his application and appeal for home to school transport for his child. We did not find fault with the Council’s decision to refuse home to school transport for Mr X’s child. We did find fault with the Council failing to follow its process. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X for failing to follow its process. The Council also agreed to provide training to staff about following its process and including relevant information about how to appeal decisions.

London Borough of Hounslow (25 005 224)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 11-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about home to school transport. It is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision not to hold an appeal.

Nottinghamshire County Council (24 022 563)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 10-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove free transport for new starters at a school which Mrs X’s child attends. However, Mrs X’s child already receives free transport and will continue to receive it until they finish the education phase, move house or move schools. Mrs X says paying for transport for her second child will be a financial burden. However they are not due to start the school for another three years. Therefore we do not consider Mrs X has suffered sufficient injustice currently to warrant an investigation.

Suffolk County Council (24 020 806)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 09-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse the complainant’s application and appeal for school transport for her son. There is not enough evidence of fault on the Council’s part to warrant investigation.

Cheshire West & Chester Council (24 015 882)

Statement Upheld School transport 08-Jun-2025

Summary: Mr B complained the Council refused to provide free home to school transport for his child, which he said was contrary to its policy. We found fault in how the Council described its policy, which did not explain how it measured home to school distance in all cases. It agreed to our recommendation to amend this. However, we did not consider this fault caused Mr B injustice. This is because he knew before choosing his child’s secondary school, which school the Council considered the nearest qualifying school for home to school transport purposes.

Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (24 022 547)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 06-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse the complainant’s application and appeal for school transport assistance for her son. There is insufficient evidence of fault on the Council’s part to warrant our intervention.

Hampshire County Council (24 022 406)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries School transport 05-Jun-2025

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay by the Council arranging a school transport appeal and further delay in paying a backdated mileage allowance agreed at the appeal. The Council has now paid the sum owed, which means there is unlikely to be sufficient remaining injustice to Mr X to warrant investigation by us.

Leicester City Council (24 012 733)

Statement Upheld School transport 04-Jun-2025

Summary: The Council was at fault for its handling of Mrs X’s school transport application and subsequent appeal. It gave Mrs X inaccurate information, and its appeal response lacked the detail required by the statutory guidance. This caused Mrs X significant distress, uncertainty, time and trouble. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X, make a payment to her and consider her application at a stage two appeal panel.

London Borough of Sutton (24 012 749)

Statement Upheld School transport 04-Jun-2025

Summary: We found fault by the Council on Mr Y’s complaint about the way it dealt with his application for post-16 Travel Assistance and appeals. It failed to properly consider them and give full reasons for its decisions. It also fettered its discretion. This caused distress as Mr Y does not know if the outcome would have been different but for the fault. The agreed action remedies the injustice caused. This included sending an apology, arranging a fresh appeal hearing, and issuing fresh guidance to relevant officers.