Cheshire West & Chester Council (20 006 662)

Category : Education > School transport

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 24 Mar 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council wrongly declined an appeal against its decision not to provide her child with assisted transport to school. Mrs X says the Council’s decision has adversely affected her child’s mental wellbeing. She would like the Council to provide her child with assisted transport and to review its school transport policy. We find no fault in the Council’s actions and have concluded our investigation.

The complaint

  1. Mrs X complains the Council wrongly declined an appeal against its decision not to provide her child with assisted transport to school. Mrs X says the Council’s decision has adversely affected her child’s mental wellbeing as they have been left to travel to school without any other children from the village in which they live.
  2. Mrs X would like the Council to provide her child with assisted transport to school and for it to review its school transport policy.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered Mrs X’s complaint and the information she has provided.
  2. I have considered the information provided by the Council.
  3. Mrs X and the Council have had the opportunity to provide their comments on a draft of this decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Summary of relevant guidance

  1. The Department for Education statutory guidance for home to school transport sets out councils’ duties. Councils must have regard for this when carrying out duties in relation to home to school transport and travel.
  2. The relevant legislation is contained within sections 508 and 509 of The Education Act 1996.
  3. Section 508B of the Act places a duty on Councils to make travel arrangements they consider necessary to facilitate attendance for eligible children. Schedule 35B of the Act defines eligible children.

The Council’s home to educational establishment transport policy

  1. The above policy sets out the Council’s duty and eligibility criteria.
  2. The policy says the Council will “make such travel arrangements as it considers necessary to enable the attendance of ‘eligible children’ within the […] area at the nearest ‘qualifying school’. Such travel arrangements will be free of charge”. The policy defines ‘eligible children’ and ‘qualifying schools’.
  3. A child is not eligible if suitable arrangements have been made by the Council enabling the child to become a registered pupil at a qualifying school nearer to home.
  4. The policy says the Council uses a digital GIS mapping system to measure the distance between a child’s home and the school. It says, “this system measures along the footpath network, from the pupil’s home gate or drive nearest to the school to the nearest gate/entrance of the school grounds, by way of the nearest available walking route”.
  5. Applicants may appeal the Council’s decision not to provide travel assistance. Reasons for appealing the Council’s decision may include if the applicant has exceptional circumstances or if they disagree with the distance measured.
  6. There are two stages to the appeals process. At Stage 1, the Council reviews appeals within 20 working days and then notifies the applicant of its decision. If the Stage 1 appeal is unsuccessful, the applicant can submit a Stage 2 appeal. At Stage 2, applicants can attend a meeting of the appeals committee to present their case to a panel.

What happened

  1. Mrs X has two children. Mrs X’s eldest child, Y attends a secondary school, School A, and receives travel assistance from the Council.
  2. In about May 2020, Mrs X asked the Council to provide travel assistance to her younger child, Z who was due to transition to School A in September 2020.
  3. In May 2020, the Council told Mrs X it had refused her request because Z’s placement at School A meant they would not be attending the nearest qualifying school. The Council said there was an available place at School B which it said was closer to Mrs X’s home.
  4. Mrs X appealed the Council’s decision in June 2020.
  5. The Council’s Stage 1 response in August 2020 upheld its decision and declined to provide travel assistance.
  6. Mrs X told the Council she disagreed with its decision and wanted to progress her appeal to Stage 2.
  7. In September 2020, Mrs X attended an appeals committee hearing and presented her case to the panel. She said that whilst she disagreed with the Council’s school transport policy, this was not the basis of her appeal.
  8. Mrs X said the distance measured from her house to School B was incorrect because it only measured to the entrance of a car park, not the school gate which was beyond the car park entrance. Mrs X disagreed that this was a valid entrance to the school. She said if the distance were measured to the school gate beyond the car park entrance, the Council could use its discretion to award travel assistance as it had for another family.
  9. Mrs X said if the measurement were made to School B’s main entrance, then School A would be closer.
  10. Mrs X asked why her child Y received assisted transport but her other child, Z, did not. She said Z was the only child from the area in which they live who would not be able to travel on the school bus and this was an exceptional circumstance. Mrs X said Z would have to travel on a public bus service by themselves, without their sibling and their friends, and this would negatively impact their mental health.
  11. The appeals committee considered Mrs X’s appeal but declined to award travel assistance. It said it had provided Y with assisted transport because School A was the closest qualifying school with available spaces at the time Y transitioned to the school. The Council said it had followed its policy regarding the application for Z, and there were no exceptional circumstances to justify departing from it. It also said it considered the entrance to the car park is a recognised school entrance.
  12. The Council offered to change the school bus passes provided to Y and Z’s friends so they could travel to school with Z on the public bus service.
  13. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s decision and brought her complaint to us.

Mrs X’s complaint

  1. Mrs X says she does not dispute the Council has followed its policy. However, she says that during the appeals committee hearing, the Council acknowledged the wording of the policy is ambiguous about the school entrance. She says the committee acknowledged the wording of the policy should be reviewed.
  2. Mrs X says there are exceptional circumstances to her case as Z is the only child in the area who does not receive assisted transport. She says the Council has not considered the impact of its decision on Z and has not prioritised Z’s needs.
  3. Mrs X says she does not want to accept the Council’s offer to change the bus passes for Y and Z’s friends because this would place those children in the same position that Z is currently in.
  4. Mrs X says the Council’s acknowledgement its policy is ambiguous and its offer to mitigate the impact to Z is acknowledgement that her grounds for appeal are valid. She says she considers the Council has accepted her grounds for appeal but still declined her application.

Analysis – is there evidence of fault by the Council?

  1. Mrs X appealed on the basis that the measured distance to School B was incorrect and there are exceptional circumstances to her case. I have considered how the appeals committee dealt with this appeal.
  2. The evidence shows the issue of the disputed measurement was discussed and considered at the appeals committee meeting. Although some panel members questioned the suitability of the measurement to the car park entrance, it was accepted this was the same point used to calculate the distance for all applications from the area in which Mrs X lives.
  3. The Council discussed the validity of the car park entrance and decided it was acceptable as a school entrance and in accordance with the wording of its policy. Having checked the policy, I do not consider this decision to be flawed. The Council also clarified with School B about whether the entrance from the car park was accepted and acknowledged as an entrance to the school. The school confirmed this to be the case.
  4. The evidence shows the Council also considered the exceptional circumstances put forward by Mrs X. As stated at paragraph three, we cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. Having reviewed the evidence, the Council has demonstrated it considered the grounds for appeal and explained its reasons for not accepting those grounds as exceptional circumstances. Whilst I acknowledge Mrs X disagrees with this decision, this is not evidence of fault.
  5. I acknowledge Mrs X says the Council has accepted her grounds for appeal but has still declined it. However, although the Council declined the appeal, I do not consider there is evidence of fault in the decision-making process, and on this basis, I have found no fault by the Council.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. I have found no fault by the Council and have closed my investigation on this basis.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings