Summary: Mrs C complains that the Council did not properly deal with an application for transport assistance and not provided transport for her son, X. The Council is at fault because it delayed making a decision about her appeal and has not provided transport for X. X’s education has been affected because he has arrived late and missed lessons and Mrs C has had to pay for travel. The Council has agreed to write a letter of apology to X, pay Mrs C £500 for the distress caused to herself and X and £400 in respect of transport costs she incurred.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs C, complains the Council has not properly dealt with X’s application for transport assistance because it:
• asked a doctor who completed her son’s EHC health assessment in March 2019 to rewrite that assessment;
• failed to provide home to school transport for her son in 2019;
• failed to provide home to school transport for her son since agreeing to do so in 2020;
• billed her for £52 and not provided the service; and
• has not handled her complaint properly.
2. Mrs C says X has found it difficult to attend college, has arrived late and missed lessons. She also says she has lost income because she has been unable to work while she has had to take him to college herself.

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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 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)
4. 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)
5. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I spoke to Mrs C and considered the details of her complaint as well as the Council’s response. I reviewed documents sent by the Council and Mrs C.
7. Mrs C and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

8. The Council operates a transport assistance scheme. An applicant can appeal the Council’s decision if an application for assistance is refused. The Council has a Home to School Transport Policy which explains how the scheme works. The appeal process has two stages.
• Stage one - The Council should make a decision and inform the applicant within 20 days from receipt of the appeal form.
• Stage two – The Council will review the original decision within 40 working days and inform the applicant within five working days of its decision.

What happened

9. X has autism and suffers from severe anxiety and sensory processing difficulty.
10. Mrs C made an application to the Council under its travel assistance scheme in August 2019. Her application was refused in September 2019 and she appealed the decision in early October 2019.
11. The Council wrote to Mrs C saying her appeal would be delayed. Mrs C complained to the Council and sent in further supporting information. The Council did not determine Mrs C’s appeal or respond to her complaint.
12. Mrs C’s solicitor sent the Council a letter saying she would apply for a judicial review of the Council’s actions. In January 2020, the Council accepted it had exceeded the timescale for considering Mrs C’s stage one appeal and had not kept Mrs C informed of progress. It also accepted is was necessary to provide transport assistance for X.
13. There were problems with the provision of transport for X in 2020.
14. In June 2020, the Council wrote to Mrs C upholding her appeal and apologising for the delays.

Analysis

15. The Council agree it did not follow the timescales for considering Mrs C’s appeal. This is fault by the Council. X had to wait several months before he began to receive travel assistance and this impacted on his education. I have seen a letter from X’s doctor stating it would be virtually impossible for him to access public transport when trying to get to college and a letter from his college about the impact on his education.
16. The Council agree that travel assistance was not provided to X for a period of time in 2020. I consider this to be fault by the Council. X did not receive travel assistance and this again will have impacted on his education.
17. X has not been able to receive education since March due to the impact of Covid 19. This further period is not due to fault by the Council.
18. The Council says it was required to provide further evidence to a Tribunal hearing about an EHCP for X. I have seen a copy of a Judge’s order requiring additional evidence to be provided in relation to X’s EHCP. The Council acted in accordance with the Judge's order when it requested updated medical information. I have seen an email from X’s doctor stating he wrote his assessment to accurately reflect what constituted health intervention. This is not fault by the Council.
19. During the Ombudsman’s investigation, the Council have apologised to Mrs C and said it is refunding the £52 contribution she paid towards the travel assistance. The Council has also offered to pay Mrs C a monetary sum and has invited the Ombudsman to recommend an appropriate remedy.

Recommended action

20. To remedy the injustice caused by the fault I have identified the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of this decision:
• Write a letter of apology to X for the impact on his education.
• Pay Mrs C £500 for the distress caused to herself and X.
• Pay Mrs C £400 in respect of the additional travel costs she incurred as a result of the Council’s delay. This takes into account the approximate 16 school weeks between the middle of October 2019 and the end of January 2020 when X did not receive transport assistance.
• Provide the Ombudsman with confirmation that it has repaid Mrs C £52 in respect of transport charges it has said it will refund.

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Final decision

21. I have found fault by the Council. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman