Summary: Mrs B complains there was fault in the Council’s consideration of a school transport appeal. The Ombudsman finds there is fault, but the Council has agreed an appropriate remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs B, complains the Council did not properly consider her appeal for free school transport for her son A.

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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).

Post 16 school transport legislation and guidance

4. Statutory guidance ‘Post-16 transport and travel support to education and training’ (January 2019) says that Councils must provide transport if it is considered necessary. They have the discretion to set their own arrangements but must have regard to the guidance. Councils may ask for a financial contribution, but should ensure any contribution is affordable and take account of the fact that a young person with special educational needs and disabilities may spend longer in education than others.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have discussed the complaint with the complainant and considered the complaint and the copy correspondence provided by the complainant. I have made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided. I have also invited Mrs B to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs B had received free home to school transport for her son A who is disabled. When A started post 16 education, the Council applied a charge of £750 per year for his transport.
7. Mrs B appealed regarding the Council’s decision. She said that she did not have a choice which school A attended, and he had been placed there by the Council. Therefore, she considered it was unfair that the Council charged £750 a year when there had been no change and A was attending the only college available.
8. The Council considered the appeal at the first stage of its procedure. A panel of officers considers whether the Council has applied its policy correctly and whether there are any exceptional reasons to depart from the policy.
9. The panel of officers refused Mrs B’s appeal. The Council wrote to Mrs B and explained the decision. It said that the legal requirement to provide free travel arrangements for eligible children did not apply to arrangements that the Council made for post 16 study. The Council said that a student could apply for Post 16 Bursary finds from their school or college if they could not afford the cost of travel. The Council also said that it could consider applications for support over and above that provided by the student’s college, but this would only be in cases of exceptional need. In Mrs B’s case, after considering the evidence, the Council said there were no exceptional circumstances as to why it should not charge the financial contribution for A’s travel arrangements. It said that if Mrs B could provide evidence of a low income, such as A receiving free school meals, it could consider eligibility for a 50% discount.
10. The Council went on to explain that the officer panel “felt there was no evidence provided of special grounds that might be considered by the full councillor School Transport Appeals Panel.”
11. I asked the Council what the panel had considered and why it had not referred to Mrs B’s grounds in its decision letter, as I would expect the Council to give details of the matters considered and its response. In its response the Council explained that the relevant grounds for Mrs B’s appeal were that she could not afford the financial contribution. The Council confirms that A is eligible for travel assistance, due to his disability. But Mrs B is required to pay the financial contribution. Therefore, this was the ground that the panel considered and referred to in its decision. As Mrs B had not provided evidence of her low income or financial difficulties, the Council had addressed this in its decision letter. It had advised Mrs B about applying to A’s college for Post 16 Bursary Funds and it had invited Mrs B to provide evidence of her low income.
12. I also asked the Council why it appeared it was preventing Mrs B from appealing further to the second stage as the statutory guidance regarding school transport appeals for post 16 transport suggest that Council should use a similar two stage process as for pre 16 appeals. The guidance does not refer to the appellant needing to provide any particular “special grounds” in order to proceed to the second stage.
13. The Council responded that it had already agreed as a result of an earlier Ombudsman’s decision that it will revise its appeal policy to offer second stage appeals to all first stage appellants. The Council has yet to formally revise its policy, but put in place temporary arrangement. The Council therefore agreed, as a result of my enquiries, to pass Mrs B’s appeal to the second stage panel.
14. The second stage panel has now considered Mrs B’s appeal. It decided to refer Mrs B back to the first stage in order that she may be given a further opportunity to provide evidence of her finances. Mrs B will have the opportunity to appeal to the second stage dependent on the first stage officer panel’s decision.

Analysis

15. The Council has accepted that it is due to revise its appeals policy to allow second stage appeals to all first stage appellants. It did not apparently recognise this until Mrs B complained to the Ombudsman. This was fault. However, I consider the Council has remedied this by considering Mrs B’s appeal at the second stage. This has given her a further opportunity to provide evidence which the Council can consider.

Agreed action

16. I consider the Council has provided an appropriate remedy for the personal injustice to Mrs B. I also recommended that the Council completes its formal revision of its policy within four months of my decision, to implement the Ombudsman’s earlier decision.
17. The Council has agreed to my recommendation and so I do not propose to pursue the complaint further.

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Final decision

18. The Council has agreed to my recommendations. I have completed my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman