Summary: Mrs X complains that the school transport arrangements made by the Council are not suitable as the journey to and from school is in excess of 75 minutes each way. The Council is at fault as it did not adequately investigate her complaints that her daughter’s school bus journey is in excess of 75 minutes each way. The Council has agreed to remedy Mrs X’s injustice by making an apology to her and by monitoring her daughter’s bus journey for a period of month and take appropriate action to reconsider the transport arrangements if the journey is in excess of 75 minutes.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that the school transport arrangements made by the Council for her daughter are unsuitable as the journey is in excess of 75 minutes each way. Mrs X has said the journey is exhausting for her daughter.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. When a council commissions another organisation to provide services on its behalf it remains responsible for those services and for the actions of the organisation providing them.

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have:
• Considered the complaint and the information provided by Mrs X;
• Discussed the issues with Mrs X;
• Made enquiries of the Council and considered the information provided;
• Invited Mrs X and the Council to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

6. The Government’s Home to School statutory guidance says that best practice suggests that the maximum each way length of journey for a secondary school age child should be 75 minutes and this time should be regarded as a maximum.
7. The Council provides school transport for Mrs X’s daughter, Y, to attend school which is approximately six miles away from her home. Y’s pick up point is the first on the route to school and the last on the route home. The bus provider’s timetable shows the bus should arrive at school at 8.25am and return to Y’s pick up point at 16:43. The timetable provides Y’s journey is 70 minutes in the morning and 73 minutes in the evening.
8. Mrs X complained to a councillor that Y’s journey to school was in excess of 75 minutes each way and she was on the bus for 180 minutes each day. The councillor said the Council would monitor the contract with the bus provider in the expectation the timing would improve and would contact the contractor if it did not. Mrs X reported a further instance of the school bus arriving at school at 8:41 when registration is at 8:40. She also complained the bus arrived as late as 5pm on the return journey. The councillor replied and advised there had been no further instances of the bus being late and it arrived 10 minutes before registration at 8:40.
9. The transport provider met with Mrs X and offered her a place for Y on another bus with a shorter route. Mrs X considered this bus was also unsuitable as the nearest pick up point is over two miles from her home.
10. The Council also had a meeting with the transport provide to discuss issues including Mrs X's complaint about the length of Y’s journey. There is no record to show the outcome of the Council’s discussion with the transport provider. Emails between Council officers show the school would also monitor transport times.
11. The Council responded to Mrs X and advised there had been unavoidable delays which caused the bus to arrive late at school but this was not an ongoing issue.
12. Mrs X made a further complaint about the bus journey being in excess of 75 minutes each way. The transport provider advised the Council that is was satisfied the timetable was accurate but the bus had been delayed by temporary traffic lights. The transport provider said it would monitor the bus times to see if there were any issues with timings once the traffic lights had been removed. There is no record to show whether the transport provider monitored the route after the removal of the traffic lights.
13. An email between officers regarding Mrs X’s complaint refers to providing Mrs X with information on how to appeal. There is no evidence to show the Council provided this information to Mrs X.
14. The school also contacted the Council to report the bus was arriving five minutes before registration. This meant the bus was 10 minutes later than timetabled so the journey would be in excess of 75 minutes.
15. Mrs X made a complaint to the Chief Executive and the councillor. The Council advised Mrs X to make a complaint to the Ombudsman. Mrs X made a complaint to the Ombudsman as she considered the bus journey to and from school continued to be in excess of 75 minutes each way.

My assessment

16. The key issue is how the Council has investigated Mrs X’s complaints that Y’s school bus journey is in excess of 75 minutes each way which is the maximum journey recommended by the statutory guidance.
17. The emails provided by the Council show it raised Mrs X’s concerns about the length of the journey to school with the transport provider and also made some enquiries of the school. Those enquiries showed the bus was late arriving at school due to temporary traffic lights. But there is no evidence to show the Council investigated if there was an ongoing issue once the traffic lights were removed. The transport provider undertook to monitor the route once the traffic lights were removed but there is no evidence to show it did. There is no evidence to show the Council requested evidence of that monitoring to satisfy itself the bus was operating in accordance with its timetable and not in excess of 75 minutes.
18. Mrs X also complained about that Y’s return journey was regularly in excess of 75 minutes but there is no evidence to show the Council investigated this matter. So, on balance, I consider the Council did not adequately investigate Mrs X’s complaint that Y’s journey was in excess of 75 minutes each way. This is fault.
19. As a result, Mrs X cannot be satisfied the Council has properly investigated her complaint and that her daughter’s bus journey is not in excess of the timetable and maximum duration set out in the statutory guidance. The Council should remedy this injustice by monitoring the duration of the journeys to school and home for a period of a month to determine if the bus journeys are within 75 minutes each way.
20. Mrs X continues to raise concerns about the bus journey being in excess of 75 minutes since her daughter returned to school after the summer holidays.

Agreed action

21. That the Council:
1. Sends a written apology to Mrs X for the uncertainty caused by not adequately investigating her concerns that her daughter’s school bus journey is in excess of 75 minutes each way.
2. Monitors both the journeys to school and home for a period of one month to determine if the bus journey is within 75 minutes each way. If the Council finds the bus journeys are in excess of 75 minutes, it should take the appropriate action to reconsider the transport arrangements.
3. The Council should notify Mrs X and the Ombudsman of the outcome of the monitoring and any action to be taken.
22. The Council should take the action at a) and b) within one month of my final decision. It should take the action at c) within one month of the conclusion of the monitoring.

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Final decision

23. The Council is at fault as it did not adequately investigate Mrs X’s complaints that her daughter’s school bus journey is in excess of 75 minutes each way. The Council has agreed to remedy the injustice to Mrs X so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman