Hampshire County Council (19 001 757)

Category : Education > School transport

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 12 Aug 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Miss B complains about the Council’s decision to change her son’s home-to-school transport arrangements. The Ombudsman has found the Council was at fault for not considering Miss B’s appeal in line with its own Policy. It is possible there might have been a different outcome had the Council properly considered the appeal. Therefore, we recommend that it considers Miss X’s appeal request in line with its Policy and the statutory guidance on this matter. We also recommend that it revises its Home-to-School Transport Entitlement Policy to make this clearer about how it will handle appeals at stage two of its process. The Council has agreed to carry out these recommendations.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, who I shall refer to as Miss B, complains about the Council’s decision to change her son’s home-to-school transport arrangements. She says he used to get a school bus but now has to get a train. She says he is not confident getting the train and is upset at the Council’s decision. She also has concerns about his safety when it gets dark in the winter. She wants it to reconsider its decision and allow her son to use the school bus.

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What I have investigated

  1. I have investigated how the Council handled Miss B’s request for a review of its decision.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  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)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have:
    • Read Miss B’s complaint and the documents she submitted in support of it.
    • Considered the statutory guidance on this matter and the Council’s Home-to-School Transport Entitlement Policy.
    • Provided both parties with an opportunity to comment on the draft decision.

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What I found

  1. The Department for Education has issued statutory guidance about home-to-school transport. This states that local authorities should have an appeals procedure in place so parents can challenge decisions they have made about school transport. This includes decisions about the suitability of any transport arrangements offered and the safety of a proposed route.
  2. The guidance insists that a two-stage process is adopted. At stage one, an appeal should be considered by a senior officer within 20 working days of it being made. If this fails to resolve the matter, an independent panel should consider the appeal at stage two within 40 working days of it being escalated.
  3. Hampshire County Council’s Home-to-School Transport Entitlement Policy is based on the statutory guidance and says appeals will be considered at stage one by a senior officer. However, it does not commit to progressing all appeals to stage two and states:

“In cases against refusal of a transport service there may be a further appeal to an Independent Appeal Panel. For concerns about the transport arrangement offered the final decision rests with the Head of Transport in Children’s Services Department.”

What happened

  1. At the end of April 2019, the Council wrote to the parents and guardians of several children which receive home-to-school transport. It said their child’s school bus had become overloaded after changes had been made to the bus contract. Consequently, it said it had decided to resolve the situation by issuing train passes to those pupils living near the station, so they could get the train instead of the bus. Miss B’s son was one of the pupils that were chosen.
  2. At the beginning of May 2019, Miss B emailed the Council and asked it to review its decision, noting she had spoken with someone on the phone about the matter the previous day. She questioned the decision it had made and said she felt it was unfair to her son.
  3. Later that day, an operations team leader responded to Miss B’s email. She referred to the call she had with Miss X the day before and said her son had been selected to receive a train pass as he lived close to the station. She said the Council had therefore fulfilled its duty to provide transport and noted Miss X had given no reason why her son could not get the train. As a result, she said the Council was “unable to review the decision”.
  4. Miss B subsequently complained to the Ombudsman about the matter.

Analysis

  1. The Council’s Home-to-School Transport Entitlement Policy clearly states appeals may be submitted about the transport arrangements that a pupil is offered. In this case, Miss B requested an appeal but the operations team leader told her the Council was “unable to review the decision” to change her son’s transport arrangements. Consequently, I have found it was at fault for not considering her appeal in line with its own Policy.
  2. It is possible there might have been a different outcome had the Council properly considered the appeal request. Therefore, I have recommended that it considers Miss X’s request in line with its Policy and the statutory guidance on this matter.
  3. I have also found the Council’s Policy is unclear whether appeals about the transport arrangements offered can progress to the second stage of its process. It implies decisions about the refusal of transport can only progress to stage two, yet at the same time it states the final decision about transport arrangements “rests with the Head of Transport in Children’s Services Department”. In short, its Policy is too vague on these matters and is confusing.
  4. The statutory guidance is insistent that local authorities operate a two-stage appeals process. It recommends that an independent panel considers all appeals at stage two, but I accept this may not be suitable in all cases. Nevertheless, it stresses that appeals at stage two should be heard by an impartial party that was not involved in the original decision-making process. Therefore, I have also recommended the Council revises its Policy to make it clearer about what happens at stage two of its appeals process.

Agreed action

  1. Within one month of the Ombudsman’s final decision, the Council has agreed to write to Miss X and invite her to resubmit her appeal. In its letter, it will outline how she should do this and explain how it will consider her appeal. If she is not content with the outcome at stage one, it will explain how she can escalate the matter to stage two and who will consider the appeal if this were to happen.
  2. Within six months of the Ombudsman’s final decision, the Council has agreed to revise its Home-to-School Transport Entitlement Policy so that it clearly states:
    • Which type of decision (for example, those about transport arrangements, a child’s eligibility, statutory walking distances, route safety etc) will progress to an independent panel at stage two and in what circumstances.
    • Who will consider appeals at stage two if a panel is not to be convened. This person or body should not be involved in the original decision-making process.

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Final decision

  1. The Council was at fault for not considering Miss B’s appeal in line with its own Policy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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