Summary: although the Council acknowledged it was at fault in April 2019 for failing to provide school transport for Mrs M’s daughter, G, and promised to take action, the Council did not put matters right. Mrs M has suffered further injustice. I have recommended a remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs M complained about problems with her daughter, G’s school transport. G has learning difficulties and needs a harness to keep her safe on the school transport. In September 2018, the Council cancelled G’s transport because of safety concerns. G was escaping from the harness. Two different contractors attempted to provide transport without success. As a result, Mrs M has had to provide transport herself for much of the 2018 – 2019 school year. Mrs M complained to the Ombudsman because she could not continue to provide transport and the Council did not have any suggestions to overcome the problems.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I have considered:
• information provided by Mrs M;
• information provided by the Council;
• Home to school travel and transport guidance. Statutory guidance for local authorities issued by the Department for Education in July 2014;
• the Education Act 1996; and
• Guidance on good practice: remedies, published by the Local Government Ombudsman in 2019.
5. I invited Mrs M and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mrs M’s complaint concerns G’s final year at primary school. G attended a community special school just over four miles from her home. G was entitled to free home to school transport provided by the Council. A council can pay parents a mileage allowance to provide transport themselves, but only if the parent agrees.
7. Problems began in September 2018 when the Council cancelled G’s transport because of safety concerns. Mrs M provided transport until a new contractor was appointed in October 2018. The contractor withdrew transport in early November 2018. Mrs M provided transport again until January 2019 when a second contractor was appointed. The contract was suspended less than three weeks later. A short period followed in which Mrs M took G to school in the morning and the school transport brought her home at the end of the day. Two-way school transport was tried again, unsuccessfully, so Mrs M continued to take G to school in the mornings. Mrs M complained in February 2019. Following Mrs M’s complaint, two-way transport resumed towards the end of April 2019 using a different harness, but G continued to escape and would wrap the seatbelt around her neck. Transport was suspended in May 2019. The Council’s only suggestion was that Mrs M should provide transport herself, which she did until the end of the summer term.
8. G should have transferred to secondary school in September 2019. Mrs M says the Council had not proposed any transport to get G to the school the Council said she should attend and told her she would have to take G to school herself. Mrs M suggested G attend a different school, a residential special school. Stalemate followed and G did not go to school. In December 2019, the SEND Tribunal decided G shall have a residential place at the school Mrs M suggested.

Mrs M’s complaint

9. Mrs M formally complained to the Council in February 2019. On 4 April 2019, the Council upheld her complaint. The Council said, “Even if you have been/are being reimbursed for mileage for your journeys to and from school – and therefore your daughter has still been able to get to school – it is unacceptable for the Council not to provide the free home to school transport to which you are entitled for such a long period of time.” The Council recommended an assessment and a decision as a matter of urgency and arrangements made as quickly possible so G could return to using home to school transport at the very earliest possible date. The Council offered Mrs M a payment of £250 in recognition of her time, trouble and inconvenience.
10. Mrs M complained to the Ombudsman at the beginning of July 2019 when the arrangements the Council put in place following her complaint broke down.

Consideration

11. When problems arose with the Council’s transport, Mrs M took G to school herself so she would not miss out. The Council has paid a mileage allowance. However, Mrs M has only done this because G would not otherwise have gone to school. She has made it clear in her dealings with the Council, and through her complaints, that she wants the Council to provide G’s transport.
12. In April 2019, the Council recognised that G is entitled to school transport and it is unacceptable for the Council not to provide transport. The Council resolved to arrange transport as quickly as possible.
13. The transport provided by the Council following Mrs M’s complaint was short-lived. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it believes it did all it could to meet its duty to provide transport “following an escalation in [G’s] poor behaviour” but was not at fault for no longer providing transport. The Council said, “In all circumstances, the responsibility of ensuring that children and young people attend school does sit with parents and carers.”
14. The Council is wrong. G’s transport was the Council’s responsibility, not Mrs M’s responsibility.
15. Further, the Council’s description of G’s “poor behaviour” is insensitive and unfair. G has severe learning difficulties. The recent Tribunal hearing recognised that the transport difficulties are all part of G’s special educational needs. G displayed challenging behaviour, but this was something the Council had to address.
16. I find the Council at fault for failing to provide school transport for G for most of the 2018 – 2019 school year. The fault has caused Mrs M injustice. She has provided a considerable amount of school transport for G. This will have been very disruptive. When not providing transport herself, Mrs M has effectively been ‘on call’ to step in when problems arose with the Council’s transport.
17. Where the Ombudsman finds fault by a council has caused injustice to the complainant, we may recommend a remedy. We have published guidance to explain the principles we follow. Our primary aim is to put people back in the position they would have been in if the fault by the Council had not occurred. When this is not possible, as in the case of Mrs M, we may recommend the Council makes a symbolic payment to acknowledge what could have been avoidable frustration, time and trouble.
18. The Council offered Mrs M a modest payment of £250 in April 2019. The Council did not, however, make suitable arrangements for G’s transport following her complaint. Mrs M suffered further injustice. I recommend the Council increase its offer to £750. I consider this a suitable symbolic payment for the injustice the Council caused Mrs M in its failure to provide transport for G for most of the 2018 – 2019 school year.
19. G has also missed a considerable amount of education, particularly since September when she should have started secondary school. The disagreement between Mrs M and the Council about which school G should attend, and Mrs M’s appeal to the Tribunal, however, mean the Ombudsman cannot consider this part of the complaint. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about matters that are being considered by the Tribunal. The Tribunal has addressed the problem of G’s day-to-day transport: the Tribunal decided she should attend a residential school.
20. Mrs M complains the Council has not yet arranged school transport at the beginning and end of the week. This is a separate matter which I will ask the Council to address. If Mrs M is unhappy with the Council’s response, she may complain to the Ombudsman again.

Agreed action

21. I recommended the Council make a symbolic payment totalling £750 to acknowledge the injustice caused to Mrs M by its failure to provide school transport for G. The Council accepted my recommendation.

Back to top

Final decision

22. The Council has accepted my recommendation, so I have ended my investigation.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman