Leicestershire County Council (20 006 051)

Category : Education > School transport

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 31 Mar 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Miss X complained the Council changed her son Y’s, who has special educational needs school transport arrangements without giving her notice. She also complained the Council failed to respond to the complaints she raised about this within the required timescales. She said this situation caused her stress and led to Y losing out on 10 weeks of school. The Council was at fault when it did not give Mrs X enough notice of its intention to change Y's travel arrangements. This likely caused her distress. The Council has agreed to address the injustice to Mrs X by reminding its staff of the importance of giving service users reasonable notice of changes to transport arrangements. The Council was also at fault when it delayed carrying out a risk assessment for Y, but Y did not sustain an injustice because of this.

The complaint

  1. Mrs X complained the Council changed her son Y’s school transport company without giving her enough notice. She also complained the Council took too long to respond to her complaint about this. She said this situation caused her stress and meant that Y lost out on 10 weeks of school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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))
  2. 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)
  3. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I spoke to Mrs X and discussed her view of the complaint.
  2. I reviewed correspondence shared between Mrs X and the Council, Mrs X’s complaint form, Y’s school transport application form, Y’s risk assessments and the Council’s school transport policy.
  3. I wrote to Mrs X and the Council with my draft decision and gave them an opportunity to comment. I considered their comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Law

  1. The Education Act 1996 says councils have a duty to arrange free home to school transport for eligible children.
  2. The Act defines eligible children as:
    • children aged between eight and 16 years old who live more than 3 miles from their nearest suitable school; or
    • children who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school because of health and safety issues related to their special educational needs or disability.

Statutory guidance

  1. The Home to School Travel and Transport statutory guidance 2014 says councils should regularly review travel policies and arrangements.
  2. Councils should ensure that drivers and escorts taking pupils to and from school have undertaken appropriate training and that this is kept up to date.
  3. On condition that the relevant parental consent has been obtained, a number of alternative arrangements might be considered to meet the council duty relating to travel arrangements. One example is:
    • A mileage allowance paid to a parent in lieu of the council making arrangements for a taxi to transport the child

Council’s Complaint process

  1. The Council aims to respond to most complaints within 20 working days but some complex complaints may take up to 65 working days.

What happened

Background

  1. Mrs X’s child Y has ADHD as well as learning and behavioural difficulties which mean he is unable to travel to school by himself.
  2. Since June 2018, Y has been taken to and from school by a taxi service arranged and funded by the Council.
  3. On 18 March 2019, the Council reviewed Y’s risk assessment. The Council decided that:
    • Y must be supervised at all times
    • Y must be supported by an escort when transferring to and from vehicles
    • Drivers must approach Y in a friendly and positive manner
    • Y required a meet and greet with any new driver as he gets extremely anxious around new people. A meet and greet is where the travel operator meets with the child and parents to help familiarise the child with the staff and reduce anxiety.
  4. The date of Y’s next risk assessment review was scheduled for 18 March 2020. The Council carried out the risk assessment in May 2020 due to an administrative oversight.

Mrs X’s complaint

  1. On 24 August 2020, the Council told Mrs X the contract with the taxi company which usually took Y to school had ended and it would be using a new taxi company. Y was due to return to school on 26 August 2020.
  2. Mrs X raised a complaint on 25 August 2020. She said the Council had not given enough notice of the change and this would cause stress and confusion for Y. She told the Council she would not accept the new taxi company because she had experienced issues with it in the past.
  3. On 26 August 2020, Mrs X also complained the Council had failed to review Y’s risk assessment on time. She again said Y could not adapt to a new taxi company. She contacted the Council on 27 August 2020 with further supporting information to add to her complaint. She later complained that the Council failed to respond to her complaint within a reasonable timescale.
  4. On 28 August 2020, the Council decided to carry out a new risk assessment for Y after taking Mrs X’s concerns into consideration. The Council spoke to Y’s school as part of the assessment. Y’s school told the Council Y would find it difficult to share transport with another person and it would be necessary to find a strong escort who could accommodate Y’s behavioural issues. At this point the Council offered Mrs X a personal transport budget, which she could use to source a new taxi company for Y. Mrs X did not accept this offer.
  5. On 24 September 2020, the Council contacted Mrs X with details of a new taxi company willing to work with Y. The Council told Mrs X to arrange a meet and greet with the company at a time that was suitable for her.
  6. Mrs X’s view of what happened next differs to the Council’s. Mrs X says she contacted the taxi company several times to arrange a meet and greet and it failed to do so. The Council says it told the taxi company to contact Mrs X and the taxi company was met with aggression and obstruction from Mrs X. There were also concerns from both sides as to how best to set up a meet and greet due to COVID-19.
  7. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint on 1 October 2020. The Council apologised for the lack of notice given regarding the change in Y’s travel arrangements. It also said:
    • It had responded to her complaint within the correct timescales
    • Y’s risk assessment was last reviewed in March 2019. It had been unable to carry out a review scheduled for March 2020 due to COVID-19. The Council apologised and confirmed it had undertaken a review of the risk assessment in May 2020
    • The Council acknowledged Y had a personal relationship with the taxi company but maintained the new taxi company it had found met the terms of Y’s risk assessment
  8. Mrs X continued to contact the Council by phone and email, reiterating her unhappiness with the situation.
  9. On 9 October 2020, the Council told Mrs X again it had put appropriate transport in place for Y and gave her two options:
    • Agree to accept the Council’s transport offer and to not obstruct meet and greets from taking place; or
    • Take a personal transport budget, which she could use for Y’s transport.
  10. The Council concluded the letter advising it had spent a significant amount of time responding to Mrs X’s queries and complaints and said, “to protect officer time there will be no further responses issued or conversation entered into unless it is solely to ask for either of the above to be implemented. Calls seeking to debate the matter further will be ended and e-mails will no longer be responded to.”
  11. The Council said this was its final response and told Mrs X she could refer the matter to Ombudsman.
  12. Mrs X responded to the Council on the same day, confirming she had spoken to the new taxi company and accepted the Council’s offer of transport. She said she had previously told the taxi company that she was happy to go ahead with its service. She told the Council to arrange a meet and greet and disputed the taxi company’s claims that she had been obstructive.
  13. The Council accepted that Mrs X and the taxi company had differing views of what caused the delay in setting up the meet and greet. The Council asked Mrs X to confirm her availability for the meeting. Mrs X told the Council which days she was free but said she was unable to accommodate anyone in the house for more than 10 minutes due to COVID-19. She also said she wanted the taxi company to call her prior to the meeting so she could inform them of Y’s needs. She later told the Council she could not meet on the days she had previously agreed as she was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
  14. The Council told Mrs X, “we would not ordinarily see the need for a separate phone call as the taxi operator will have all the information about Y from the risk assessment…you are welcome to contact the operator yourself.” The Council urged Mrs X to confirm when she was next available and said, “at this point, I am required to ensure that you are aware that once the appropriate provision is offered if a child of compulsory school age fails to attend regularly school the parent may be guilty of an offence.”
  15. Mrs X gave the Council further details of her availability. She continued to state that the taxi agency had lied and again requested a phone call with the taxi company before meeting with Y. She said she had been promised a phone call from the taxi company and would expect the Council to address it if the company failed to call her.
  16. On 28 October 2020 Mrs X contacted the Council following this to advise the taxi company had failed to call her and there had been a miscommunication regarding when Y was to be picked up. The Council asked Mrs X to confirm whether she was rejecting the new taxi company. Mrs X confirmed she was no longer willing to work with them as they had failed to call her. The Council advised it would look for another company as Mrs X had not accepted its personal transport budget offer and the taxi company had confirmed it was also unwilling to work with Mrs X.
  17. The Council carried out a new review of Y’s risk assessment on 29 October 2020 and maintained Y still required a regular driver and escort.
  18. On 5 November 2020, the Council offered Mrs X a Council run transport company and advised it could begin escorting Y to school the following week. The Council advised it would be flexible in arranging a meet and greet if Mrs X agreed. Mrs X accepted the Council’s offer.
  19. Following our enquiries, the Council has advised that the Council transport company has been in place for Y since 5 November 2020. After reflecting on the situation, the Council has advised it could have prioritised Mrs X’s concerns earlier and this may have reduced the time Y was out of school. Mrs X has confirmed the issue has been resolved but she remains unhappy with the length of time it took to source Y a suitable taxi company.

Findings

  1. Mrs X complained the Council did not give sufficient notice it was going to use a new taxi company to take Y to school. The Council has acknowledged it only told Mrs X about the change two days before it intended to use a new taxi company. There is nothing in statutory guidance or Council policy which requires the Council to give notice of changes to travel arrangements.
  2. However, the Council should have realised the importance of giving enough notice because Y’s risk assessment states a meet and greet must take place before a new driver is introduced. I do not consider two days was enough time to acclimatise Y to this change. The Council’s decision to change provision with only two days’ notice, not allowing a realistic prospect of the meet and greet required by Y’s risk assessment is fault. This likely caused frustration to Mrs X. The Council has previously apologised which is sufficient to remedy injustice to Mrs X. But it should remind its staff of the importance of communicating significant changes to travel arrangements in sufficient time to allow for necessary preparatory work. This will prevent a repeat of this fault causing injustice to others in future.
  3. Mrs X complained the Council took too long to respond to her complaint. The Council is required to respond to complaints within a minimum of 20 working days and maximum of 65 working days if the complaint is complex. After making her initial complaint, Mrs X contacted the Council several times raising further issues. The Council was in consistent contact with Mrs X whilst it was attempting to address these issues and respond to her complaint. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaints within the required timescales. There is no fault in the Council’s actions.
  4. Mrs X remains unhappy with the number of weeks Y was unable to attend school due to the difficulties putting new travel arrangements in place. Having reviewed all evidence, I do not consider it fair to hold the Council responsible for the delay. Mrs X declined the initial transport company the Council offered and did not accept its offer of a personal budget. She was entitled to make this decision; however, this meant the Council had to spend time finding another transport company that could meet Y’s needs. There is no fault in the Council’s actions.
  5. When the Council did find another transport company, communication between it and Mrs X broke down for reasons which remain unclear. Mrs X also made requests for contact with the company which contributed towards slowing down the process. It is not my role to comment on the conduct of the travel company or the reason Mrs X made these requests. I can only review the Council’s actions and the evidence indicates the Council took action to provide Y with suitable transport and did so within reasonable timescales. There is no fault in the Council’s actions.
  6. The Council reviewed Y’s risk assessment after 14 months rather than the 12 months required by its policy. It is required to carry out an assessment of need annually so this was a delay of two months. The Council has conceded it did not meet this requirement partly because of an administrative error and partly because of the impact of COVID-19. I stop short of finding fault due to the unprecedented impact the pandemic has had on the Council’s resources. I cannot see that this caused Y a significant injustice as the delay was minimal and the 2020 risk assessment was largely identical to the 2019 assessment.

Agreed action

  1. Within three months of the date of my final decision, the Council has agreed to provide evidence showing it has reminded staff of the importance of communicating changes in transport arrangements within a reasonable time.

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Final decision

  1. The Council was at fault when it did not give Mrs X reasonable notice of its intention to change Y's travel arrangements. The Council has agreed to address this by reminding its staff of the importance of giving service users reasonable notice of changes to transport arrangements. The Council was also at fault when it delayed carrying out a risk assessment for Y but Y did not sustain an injustice because of this. I have completed the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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