Wokingham Borough Council (19 010 377)
Category : Education > School transport
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 22 Nov 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to provide home to school transport for her child. She has appealed this decision to a Tribunal. And we cannot investigate issues a Tribunal is deciding.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, disagrees with the Council’s decision not to provide home to school transport for her child.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- SEND is a tribunal that considers special educational needs. (The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (‘SEND’))
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has appealed to a tribunal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint. Miss X had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.
What I found
- Miss X has a child, Y, with special education needs. A child with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. This sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about education, or name a different school. Only the tribunal can do this.
- Y has an EHC plan. The EHC plan names School Z as the school Y should attend. It then says School Z has been named on the condition Miss X pay for, and arrange, home to school transport. The EHC plan says this is because it is the Council’s view that to provide the transport would be incompatible with its efficient use of resources.
- Miss X appealed the Council’s decision to its internal school transport appeals system. It rejected her appeal. Miss X has confirmed she has appealed the EHC plan wording to the SEND. We cannot investigate issues which SEND is deciding.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Miss X has appealed to the Tribunal.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman