Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to provide his son with free transport to college. The Council has allowed parents of non-eligible post 16 special educational needs students to purchase empty seats available on existing transport. Mr X has purchased a seat on a vehicle and is satisfied with this.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s decsion to refuse post 16 school transport for his son who has Special Educational Needs. Mr X says that the Council failed to properly consider his son’s needs and therefore the decision is wrong.

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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’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information the Council provided. I have also spoken with Mr X.
5. I sent Mr X and the Council a copy of my draft decision and invited their comments. I considered the comments I received.

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What I found

6. In response to the Ombudsman the Council said that following the appeal hearing, an exceptional arrangement has been agreed to allow parents of non-eligible post 16 special educational needs students to purchase empty seats available on existing transport. I spoke with Mr X who confirmed that he had purchased a seat for his son. Mr X is satisfied with this.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. An investigation would not achieve anything more for Mr X than the Council has already provided.

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Final decision

8. For the reasons stated above, I have not investigated Mr X’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman