Southend-on-Sea City Council (19 000 592)

Category : Education > School transport

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 10 Sep 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to clearly communicate its decision not to award his son his preferred choice of home to school transport provider. The Ombudsman finds the Council was not at fault.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complained the Council failed to clearly communicate its decision not to award his son his preferred choice of home to school transport provider. Mr X said it is causing financial hardship paying for Y’s home to school transport. He said if Y travels with the bus pass provided by the Council, he would not be able to travel to school with his friends.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
  2. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

  1. I discussed the complaint with Mr X and considered information provided by the Council. That included all documents relating to the appeal and the Council’s home to school transport policy.
  2. Mr X and the Council both had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

  1. Councils have a duty to provide free home to school transport for eligible children to qualifying schools. (Education Act 1996, section 508B)
  2. Eligible children are children of compulsory school age who:
    • cannot walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or a mobility problem; or
    • live beyond the statutory walking distance; or
    • receive free school meals, or whose parents receive the maximum Working Tax Credit and the school is between two and six miles away from home (for children aged 11-16). (Education Act 1996, Schedule 35B)
  3. Statutory government guidance says councils should have in place procedures to enable parents to appeal about the eligibility of their child for travel support. The guidance recommends councils follow a two-stage appeals process. The Council’s Stage one review is completed by a Transport Entitlement Officer. Stage 2 is a review by an independent panel.
  4. Parents can apply online to the Council for home to school transport assistance. Parents can specify their preferred type of transport support such as a bus pass, cycle allowance or mileage reimbursement. However, the Council advises that if assessed as eligible, it provides the most cost-effective transport option.

What happened

  1. Mr and Mrs X have two children, Y and Z. They are both eligible for home to school transport because they come from a low-income household and live more than two miles from their respective schools.
  2. Mrs X made an online application for home to school travel assistance for Y and Z on 4 December 2018. She asked for a bus pass for Y on Bus B. Bus company F operates this bus. She asked for a rail pass for Z.
  3. The Council sent Mrs X an email on 5 December 2018 stating the bus pass for Y had been approved with bus company A. Bus company A does not operate Bus B which Mrs X had requested.
  4. On 10 December 2018, the Council emailed Mrs X and said it would give Z a bus pass but not a rail pass, because the rail pass was not the most cost-effective option. Mrs X telephoned the Council and following their discussion, the Council agreed to give her the monetary equivalent of the bus pass to put towards Z’s rail fare.
  5. On 2 January 2019, Mrs X contacted the Council and said the bus pass for Y was with the wrong bus company. Mrs X asked the Council if it could swop Y’s bus pass for a pass with bus company F, or whether it would pay the monetary equivalent as it had done for Z. The Council explained as the bus pass had been paid for, issued and received, it was a different situation to Z and therefore it could not give the monetary difference.
  6. Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s decision and said it had not been clear in its email about the bus pass that it was not their preferred transport option. He also said the Council should offer the option of accepting a monetary equivalent at the outset of the application process. The Council told Mr X he could appeal its decision and told him he could contact bus company A if he wanted to request a refund for the bus pass.
  7. Mr X appealed to the Council on 22 January 2019. On 24 January 2019, the Council turned down Mr X’s appeal. It said the cost of a bus pass with bus company A was 65.3% of the cost of a bus pass with company F and the Council had the responsibility to provide the most cost-effective option. It said it had told Mrs X in its confirmation email that the bus pass was with company A.
  8. Mr X asked the Council to escalate his appeal to stage two. The Panel considered Mr X’s appeal but did not uphold it and said it could not find a reason to depart from the Council’s policy. Mr X remained unhappy and brought his complaint to the Ombudsman.

The Council’s response to enquiries

  1. The Council said it had bought Y a part year bus pass for the spring and summer school terms. It decided not to apply for a refund because the process of applying for, claiming and processing the partial refund was not an efficient use of the Council’s resources. In addition, it said the agreement between the bus company and the Council does not include refunds as this is part of the preferential rates the Council receives. Therefore, it was not guaranteed the bus company would give it a refund.
  2. The Council said it has agreed preferential rates for both bus company A and F for the school year 2019 – 2020. Therefore, if Mr X applied for home to school transport again, it is likely Y will be awarded a bus pass with his preferred bus company.

My findings

  1. The Council tells applicants it awards the most cost-effective form of home to school transport. Mrs X applied for Bus B. She did not specify which bus company that was with. The Council responded and allocated a bus pass with Company A. It did not specify the bus pass could not be used on Bus B. Although Mr X feels this was a lack of transparency on the Council’s behalf, I disagree. The Council specified the company the bus pass was with. The Council’s responsibility was to provide home to school transport. It has done this. The Council was not at fault.
  2. Mr X asked the Council to obtain a refund and provide the monetary value of the bus pass. The Council has provided a good reason for not applying for a refund for the bus pass after it had bought and issued it. It also gave Mr X the details of the bus company so he could apply for a refund independently. The bus company’s failure to contact him was not the fault of the Council. The Council was not at fault.
  3. The Council’s home to school transport policy does not specify it will give the monetary equivalent if a parent does not want to accept the Council’s preferred transport choice. However, that is not fault. The Council has demonstrated it is open to using its discretion and diverting from policy when appropriate. The Council is not at fault.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. The Council was not at fault for not awarding the preferred transport provider for home to school transport. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings