Summary: Mrs X complains about the way the Council has handled school transport for her son. She disagrees with the Council’s decision to refuse her son school transport. She says the policies are unfair, and the appeal panel did not consider all the points she raised in her appeal. She says as a result she and her mother have to take her son to and from school. The Ombudsman does not find the Council at fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mrs X, complains about the way the Council has handled school transport for her son. She complains that:
1. she is not happy with the decision that her son is not eligible for free school transport;
2. the policies are unfair; and,
3. the Council did not consider all the points she made at the appeal.
2. Mrs X says she and her mother have to drop her son off at school and pick him up each day.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether an independent school admissions appeal panel’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider if there was fault in the way the decision was reached. If we find fault, which calls into question the panel’s decision, we may ask for a new appeal hearing. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the relevant legislation, statutory guidance and policies, set out below. I also considered the Ombudsman’s focus report ‘All on board? Navigating school transport issue’, published in March 2017.
5. I considered the information and documents provided by Mrs X and the Council. I spoke to Mrs X about her complaint. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments received before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

What should have happened

6. Councils have to provide free home-to-school transport for eligible children of compulsory school age to attend their nearest “qualifying school”. The relevant qualifying school is the nearest school with places available that provides education the council considers appropriate to the age, ability, and aptitude of the child.
7. Councils should have complaints and appeals procedures to deal with school transport issues. The Government recommends a two-stage appeal procedure. At stage one, the appeal is reviewed by a senior officer. At stage two, the appeal is reviewed by an independent appeal panel.
8. At each stage, the council should send a decision letter to the parent. This should include how the review was carried out, what factors were considered, and the reasons for its decision.

The Council’s policy

9. This says that free home-to-school transport is provided to the nearest qualifying school from the child’s home address. It says the nearest qualifying school may or may not be the catchment area school. It says school transport is only provided where the child meets the eligibility criteria set out in the policy.
10. There are exceptions to the policy, where the Council allows free school transport for children in certain areas to certain schools. The policy lists the areas and the schools.
11. The policy says parents are expected to accompany their child to and from school where they consider it necessary. It says parents’ work commitments would not usually be considered as a reason why the Council should provide free school transport.
12. The Council offers a discretionary scheme where it offers a special bus pass (a ‘privilege pass’) for some children that do not qualify for free school transport. There is a cost for this.
13. The policy says the Council will consider requests for changes in transport arrangements in rural areas, for example additional bus stops, but such changes are not always possible because of safety and timing.

What happened

14. Mrs X’s son, B, was going to start secondary school (School Q) in September 2019. In July 2019, Mrs X lodged an appeal because the Council said B was not eligible for free school transport.
15. Mrs X questioned why children from a neighbouring village were eligible for free school transport to School Q when B was not eligible. She said B’s primary school was a feeder school for School Q, but the catchment school for her village is another secondary school (School R).
16. In August, the Council gave its stage one response to Mrs X’s appeal. It said when Mrs X applied for a school place, she was told to read the transfer booklet so she understood the school transport policy and could consider how to get B to and from school. It said the offer letter said Mrs X would normally be responsible for making necessary travel arrangements unless B qualified for free transport. The Council said it took adequate steps to inform Mrs X of the policy before she applied for a school place, and before a place was offered.
17. The Council said the neighbouring village was an exception for School Q. It said B’s nearest qualifying school was School R. It also said there were five other schools that were nearer to Mrs X’s home than School Q.
18. The Council said B was eligible for free school transport to School R. It also said there are public bus services that could take B from his home village to School Q. The Council refused Mrs X’s appeal.
19. In September, Mrs X asked that her appeal went to the second stage. She said her village was closer to School Q than the neighbouring village, and questioned why that village was included in the free transport scheme but not her village. She said she or a family member would need to drop B in the neighbouring village because the bus does not stop in her village, and there is no footpath between villages.
20. Mrs X said both she and B’s father work fulltime, and B’s grandmother had been helping to collect B from primary school, but this arrangement could not continue. She said the bus goes through her village, and questioned why it could not add an extra stop in her village.
21. In October, the Council held the appeal panel. Mrs X attended. The Council told the panel it had declined Mrs X’s request for free school transport in line with its policy. It repeated the points made in the stage one response. It confirmed that School R was the only designated catchment secondary school for Mrs X’s village.
22. The Council told the panel about the other transport arrangements Mrs X could make. It said a privilege pass for B would not resolve the issue because the Council could not add a stop to that bus route to accommodate B. This was because of the additional cost to the Council.
23. The Council said there is a public bus between Mrs X’s village and School Q. Mrs X told the panel that although it was convenient, she had safety concerns for B because no other children were on the bus for the last part of the journey.
24. The appeal panel dismissed Mrs X’s appeal. The panel clerk sent Mrs X a decision letter the same day. This said the panel had considered all the evidence from Mrs X and the Council. It said the panel had a “great deal of sympathy” but School Q was not the designated catchment school, and it was also not the nearest qualifying school to Mrs X’s address.
25. The decision letter said there were alternative transport options for B to travel to school if Mrs X was not able to take him. It said the appeal was dismissed in line with the Council’s policy.
26. Mrs X then complained to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

Appeal decision

27. Mrs X complains that she is not happy with the decision that her son is not eligible for free school transport (part a of the complaint).
28. Mrs X says she read the transfer booklet before applying to School Q. She says she “skimmed” the Council’s policy about free school transport. She saw the neighbouring village named and B’s primary school and assumed she would be in the same bracket. She believed she would be entitled to free school transport for B.
29. The Council applied its policy correctly. The appeal panel considered whether there were any exceptional circumstances in Mrs X’s appeal to depart from its policy. The appeal panel did not feel there were any exceptional circumstances in Mrs X’s case, so it dismissed her appeal.
30. I do not find fault. I find that the Council applied its policy correctly to Mrs X’s request and her subsequent appeal. The Council considered exercising its discretion and decided there were no grounds to do so. The Council is entitled to do this.

Unfair policies

31. Mrs X complains that the policies are unfair (part b of the complaint). She says the primary school catchment for both her village and the neighbouring village is the same primary school, where B attended. She says it is unfair that her village’s catchment secondary is School R but the neighbouring village’s catchment secondary is School Q. She says both villages are so close, they should have the same catchments or both be exceptions listed in the Council’s policy.
32. The Council is entitled to list certain exceptions to its policies. In this case, it has decided to list the neighbouring village as an exception but not Mrs X’s village. This is not fault.

Appeal panel’s consideration of Mrs X’s appeal

33. Mrs X complains that the Council did not consider all the points she made at the appeal (part c of the complaint). She does not believe the Council properly considered or responded to all the points of her appeal, specifically her points about walking safety between villages (no safe footpath and no street lighting), the difference in cost between a privilege pass and public transport, carbon emissions (trying to keep cars off the road), and why there is a difference between her village and the neighbouring village when it comes to catchment areas.
34. The minutes of the appeal panel do not show that Mrs X raised the issue of carbon emissions, nor that the Council responded to this specific concern. I do not find fault for this because this is not a factor an appeal panel should consider when making its decision.
35. The minutes show the panel discussed Mrs X’s safety concerns for B. It did not consider this was a reason to depart from its policy.
36. The minutes show the panel discussed and explained to Mrs X the reason for the difference in cost between a privilege pass and public transport.
37. The minutes show the panel discussed and explained to Mrs X the difference between her village and the neighbouring village when it comes to catchment areas.
38. I find that the panel did consider all the relevant points Mrs X made at her appeal. I find that the Council made its decision appropriately and in line with its policy. For this reason, I do not find fault.

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Final decision

39. I have completed my investigation. I do not uphold Mrs X’s complaint because there is no fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman