Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to provide help with her son’s school transport. This is because the complaint is late and there is no reason Miss X could not have complained earlier.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s decision not to provide her son with transport assistance to school between May 2017 and August 2019.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Miss X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Miss X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

5. Miss X wants the Council to pay the costs she incurred transporting her son to school between May 2017 and August 2019. Miss X says the Council could not provide her son with a place at either of her preferred schools. The Council has said Miss X’s son attended a school around ten miles from home – but it could have offered a school that was less than a mile from her address. It has therefore refused her retrospective request for help with transport.
6. Miss X’s complaint flows from events and decisions taken in 2017. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are clear and compelling reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. If Miss X wanted to challenge the Council’s decision not to provide transport in 2017, she could have appealed using the Council’s own two-stage process. Miss X could also have appealed the decision not to provide a place at either of her preferred schools. I see no reason why Miss X could not have complained or appealed to the Council and then the Ombudsman much earlier. Therefore, the exception at paragraph 3 applies to Miss X’s complaint.

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Final decision

7. Subject to any comments Miss X might make, my view is the Ombudsman should not investigate her complaint. This is because the complaint is late and there is no reason Miss X could not have complained sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman