Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to not provide school transport for Mrs X’s son. This is because there is no evidence of fault by the Council in the way it made its decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, says that the Council did not take into consideration supporting documents she supplied as part of her son’s (Y) appeal for free school transport. She says the Council’s failure to consider the circumstances surrounding Y’s move to another school has meant that he longer receives free school transport. Mrs X would like the council to allow for petrol mileage or provide a taxi to transport Y to and from school.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and invited her to comment on my draft decision. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X asked the Council to provide Y with free transport to school (School Z) on 11 March 2021. The Council refused Mrs X application stating that Y did not qualify for transport under Plymouth City Council Policy.
6. Councils must apply their transport policy when deciding entitlement to transport assistance. But they also have the discretion to consider exceptional circumstances. They must have a review or appeal process by which to do so.
7. A panel of 3 Senior Officers considered Mrs X’s appeal at the second stage of the Council’s process on 28 July 2021. The panel considered a range of documents and information including the email from Y’s Professional Youth Worker, and letters from Y’s Social Worker and Targeted Support.
8. Mrs X had the opportunity to present her case and Mrs X made verbal representations to members of the Appeal Panel. The panel concluded it would not make an offer outside of its policy to offer free school transport. It commented that Mrs X had exercised her parental preference when requesting a place for Y at School Z. It also acknowledged that Mrs X was making her own transport arrangements for Y and that she could continue to do so.
9. Mrs X disagrees with the panel’s decision, but this is not evidence of fault. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body and we cannot criticise a properly made decision or intervene to substitute an alternative view. As I explain in paragraph 2, we can only consider whether there was fault in the way the Council reached its decision.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find evidence of fault in the way the Council took its decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman