Summary: Ms X complained the Council refused to grant her child, Z, free school transport following a house move, despite providing free school transport to Z’s sibling. The Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council refused to grant her child, Z, free school transport following a house move, despite providing free school transport to her other child.
2. Ms X says this is causing her financial hardship.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I spoke to Ms X and considered her view of her complaint.
6. I considered the information provided by the Council. This included details of the information submitted by Ms X for both of her appeals, the Clerk’s notes from the appeals and the Council’s decision letters to Ms X.
7. I wrote to Ms X and the Council with my draft decision and considered their comments before I made my final decision.

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What I found

Law and statutory guidance

8. Sections 508B and 508C of the Education Act 1996 require local authorities to ensure that suitable transport arrangements are made, where necessary, to facilitate a child’s attendance at school.
9. Section 508C of the Act provides councils with discretionary powers to go beyond their statutory duties and provide transport or provide full or part funding of travel expenses to children who are not entitled to free transport under s.508B.
10. The statutory guidance says ‘it is very much for the individual local authority to decide whether and how to apply this discretion as they are best placed to determine local needs and circumstances’. The guidance acknowledges councils will have to balance requests for support against their budget priorities.
11. The guidance recommends a two-stage appeal process:
• A review by a senior officer
• A review by an independent appeal panel.
12. Suffolk County Council’s school transport policy states it will only provide free school transport to the nearest suitable school that has a place available.

What happened

13. Ms X used to live in Town A which is where her two older children attend secondary school.
14. Ms X moved to Town B which is around 19 miles from the children’s school.
15. Ms X made an in-year application to move the two children to a school in Town B. The children’s father, who lives in Town A and has shared custody of the children, objected to this. The Council told Ms X that in cases where there was disagreement between parents, it would not accept an application to move the children without the approval of both parents or a court order.
16. Ms X then applied for free school transport from Town B to the children’s school in Town A. The Council refused her application.
17. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision. She said her children had had an unsettled time as their parents had separated and she could not drive them to school because she had to take another child to a different school.
18. The appeal was refused on the grounds that there were 15 closer schools that were suitable for both siblings to attend and there was a public bus service to Town A which they could use.
19. Ms X requested an appeal at stage 2. She provided the following information:
• details of her income. Ms X said she could not afford the costs of daily travel for both children which were around £5.60 each a day. This was because her work had stopped during the covid lockdown and the father was contributing less, also because of issues with work and lockdown;
• a letter from the Council saying it would not accept an in-year school admissions form without approval from both parents or a court order;
• she could not drive the children because she had to drive a third child to another town for school; and
• her older child was in an exam year and a change in school would be detrimental to their studies.
20. The stage 2 appeal panel considered the information submitted by Ms X. It refused her appeal for the younger child, but allowed it for the older child on the grounds that a school move in an exam year would be detrimental to their studies.
21. Ms X remained unhappy and complained to the Ombudsman.

My findings

22. Ms X considered that there were particular reasons why her children could not attend the nearest school, including the Council’s decision it would not accept a school admissions form without the approval of both parents or a court order.
23. The Council’s policy is only to fund transport to the nearest suitable school. If a pupil attends a school that is not the nearest, then its view is that the family then becomes financially responsible for transport. This policy is in line with legislation.
24. The Council has a duty to identify a suitable school with places for the children. It has done that. Ms X says she cannot move the children because the father will not give approval. However, this is a private matter between the parents and not for the Council.
25. The documents show Mrs X’s submissions were considered by the Council and panel. It initially decided the family’s circumstances were not so exceptional that it should depart from the usual policy. There was no fault in the way it made this decision. It later decided at the second appeal that it would exercise its discretion under section 508C of the Act and award free school transport to the older child because they were in an exam year. It decided, however, that the circumstances were such that it would not exercise its discretion for the younger child. The way the Council made these decisions was in line with the legislation. There was no fault.

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Final decision

26. There was no fault in the Council’s actions. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman