Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint about the Council’s school transport policy. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council’s school transport policy is unreasonable and that the Council was at fault in refusing his application for school transport for his daughter.

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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 we would find fault, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered what Mr B has said in support of his complaint and the complaint correspondence provided by the Council. I have also considered Mr B’s response to my draft decision.

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What I found

4. Mr B applied for a school place for his daughter. He says the Council offers people who live in his village the option of two schools, rather than the three set out in statutory guidance. The Council awarded Mr B’s daughter a place at the school of his choice. He subsequently applied for free school transport.
5. The Council refused Mr B’s application on the grounds that the school he had chosen was neither the closest to his home or the catchment area school. Mr B believes the Council’s decision was flawed.
6. Mr B points out that the school does not have a catchment area for admissions purposes. The Council operates a system of catchment areas for school transport but Mr B argues that the catchment areas locally are archaic. He believes catchment areas should be determined using only distance from the school. He contends that the effect of the Council’s policy is to treat some residents more favourably than others. He argues that children living in rural areas should be entitled to free school transport.
7. Mr B is not correct to state that the Council restricts applicants in his village to a choice of two schools. The Council’s school application form allows applicants to express a preference for up to three, as it is required to do. This is not related to the Council’s duty to provide school transport for eligible children. There is no requirement in law for councils to make free transport available to a specific number of schools.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because it is unlikely we would identify fault on the Council’s part. Councils are not required, and not resourced, to provide free school transport for all pupils living in rural areas. Rather, they are required to have a policy in place to enable them to decide which pupils are eligible. This necessarily leads to some pupils being treated more favourably than others, but that is not indicative of fault. Neither are councils restricted to one specific method of determining catchment areas. They have a degree of discretion available to them.
9. The Council’s school transport policy properly sets out the basis on which decisions are made and its provisions are unexceptional. The process is properly publicised in the Council’s publications and it is open to parents to consider it before applying for a school. There is no evidence of fault in the policy itself or the way in which it has been applied in this case. That being the case, the Ombudsman cannot intervene to criticise the Council’s policy or suggest an alternative. There are no grounds for the Ombudsman to investigate this complaint.
10. If Mr B believes he has exceptional circumstances which justify the Council departing from the policy it is open to him to use the Council’s appeal process.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman