Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council dealt with her request for additional education travel support for her child who was temporarily confined to a wheelchair after a planned surgery. There was fault by the Council in how it dealt with Mrs X’s case and its poor communication with her. This has caused injustice to Y and Mrs X. The Council will take action to remedy the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about how the Council dealt with her request for additional education transport support for her child, Y, after a planned operation which left her temporarily confined to a wheelchair.
2. Mrs X also complained about the Council’s lack of communication with her and its delays with providing Y with the additional transport support Mrs X requested.
3. Mrs X said as a result of the Council’s failings, Y missed out on some education. Mrs X said the matter also caused her financial loss, uncertainty, frustration and time and trouble chasing the Council for updates and complaining.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

6. I have discussed the complaint with Mrs X and considered the information she provided. I also considered the information the Council provided in response to my enquiries.
7. I sent Mrs X and the Council a copy of my draft decision and considered all comments received before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Council’s School and College Transport Policy

8. Local authorities do not have to provide free or subsidised post-16 travel support but do have a duty to prepare and publish an annual transport policy statement. This statement specifies the arrangements for the provision of transport or other support that the Council considers necessary to make to facilitate the attendance of all persons of sixth form age receiving education or training.
9. If the young person meets these criteria, the Council will offer transport support to sixth form learners subject to an annual contribution being paid. The Council will provide transport support usually in the form of a bus or train pass.
10. Transport may be temporarily provided for a student who would be entitled to transport under the policy to attend their school or college, if they develop a temporary medical condition which prevents them from walking, cycling or taking the bus. This is to enable the student to continue to attend school or college.
11. Schools with sixth form provision and colleges of further education have some funding available to help students with expenses connected with their study, including travel costs. This funding is known as 'bursary funding’.

What happened

12. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
13. Mrs X’s child, Y, received school bursary for post-16 transport to school in 2021. Mrs X said she paid the first instalment of Y’s post-16 school transport in 2021, and the remaining payment was covered by Y’s bursary award.
14. On 24 August 2022, Mrs X made an enquiry with the Council for additional transport support for Y. This was because Y was temporarily confined to a wheelchair after she had a planned surgery on her legs. Mrs X said she told the Council that Y would be unable to use the normal coach transport to college during Y’s recovery period. Mrs X said she also asked the Council if she was required to pay the first instalment of Y’s post-16 transport contribution in 2022 (second year of Y’s bursary award).
15. On 26 August 2022, the Council replied to Mrs X’s enquiry. It asked Mrs X to submit medical evidence to show Y’s condition. The Council advised Mrs X that transport provision was subject to payment of the post-16 transport contribution.
16. Y’s college resumed on 6 September 2022.
17. On 5 and 9 September 2022, Mrs X called the Council’s customer contact centre for an update on her request. Mrs X said the Council told her it was considering her case and that it would give Mrs X a call back with an update.
18. On 14 September 2022, the Council sent an email to Mrs X in relation to the additional transport support she requested for Y. The email stated a taxi had been authorised for Y, but it said that Y’s post-16 contribution payment was still outstanding which was a requirement before transport could be arranged. The email advised Mrs X to contact the Council to make Y’s post-16 contribution payment. The Council sent the email to Mrs X’s old email address.
19. On 16 September 2022, Mrs X called the Council again as she did not receive its call back on 9 September 2022 with an update about her request. Mrs X told the Council that Y had missed out on some education because there was no suitable transport to take Y to college. Mrs X said she would make a formal complaint because she had been waiting 3 weeks for the Council to arrange suitable transport for Y. Mrs X said she asked the Council to call her back with an update on her request. On the same day, the Council called Mrs X back to discuss her case. Mrs X said the Council advised her she needed to pay Y’s outstanding post‑16 transport contribution before it could deal with her request.
20. Mrs X paid the first instalment of Y’s post-16 transport contribution for the second year of the bursary on 16 September 2022.
21. On 20 September 2022, Mrs X made a formal complaint to the Council. She explained she informed the Council about Y’s temporary mobility restriction and made a request for additional transport support for Y in August 2022. Mrs X said when the Council asked her to submit medical evidence to support her request, she asked the Council what she needed to do about the post-16 transport payment. Mrs X said she told the Council that Y was awarded a bursary in 2021 and that she was not sure if she needed to make the first instalment in 2022 like she did the previous year. Mrs X said the Council did not respond to her query despite her chasing it for updates on several occasions. She alleged the Council promised to return her call on 9 September 2022 with an update on her request but it never did. Mrs X said she called the Council again in mid-September 2022 when she did not receive the Council’s call back and Y had missed some education at her college. She said the Council eventually returned her call when she insisted on the call back and told it she was going to make a formal complaint. Mrs X said during the call back from the Council, its staff had no recollection of their previous conversation. But she said the staff informed her the Council had sent an email to Mrs X informing her it would not be able to arrange Y’s transport until Mrs X paid Y’s post-16 contribution. Mrs X expressed her frustration because she said she did not receive the said email from the Council. The Council told Mrs X the email address it had used, Mrs X said that was an old and inactive email address. She said she was confused because she recently received emails from the Council via her existing email address. Mrs X questioned why the Council had not informed her about the post-16 payment process contained in the email it sent to the wrong email address during her telephone calls to it. Mrs X said she asked the staff how she could pay the post‑16 first instalment which she paid immediately so Y’s transport could be sorted. She said she was still waiting for the Council to deal with the request and provide Y with suitable transport to attend college. Mrs X said the Council had failed Y.
22. On 21 September 2022, the Council issued Y with a bus pass for transport support to her college. This was issued in error. The Council said the notes which highlighted Y needed a taxi / small vehicle were missed due to human error.
23. The following day, the Council contacted a taxi company. The Council asked it to add Y onto its taxi service and for the service to start on 23 September 2022. The taxi company told the Council it required 2 working days to arrange transport for Y.
24. Mrs X told the Council that the transport team had informed her a taxi was scheduled to pick Y up on 26 September 2022. Mrs X said she called the taxi company to confirm pick up, but it told her the pickup wouldn’t go ahead because it was waiting for the Council to complete a risk assessment. Mrs X expressed her frustration about the Council’s delays with arranging Y’s transport support. She clarified the type of vehicle Y needed and asked for the matter to be resolved.
25. On 27 September 2022, the Council resolved and arranged Y’s additional transport support.
26. On 29 September 2022, the Council issued its stage 1 response to Mrs X’s complaint. The Council apologised to Mrs X for the issues she experienced with her request for additional education transport support for Y and its poor communication with her. The Council explained there was an error in the transfer of information as regards the type of transport Y needed. The Council accepted this requirement was not noted and it apologised for any inconvenience caused to Mrs X. But it confirmed the appropriate transport support had been provided to Y at the end of September 2022. The Council also said the deadline for the post-16 transport payment was 16 August 2022. It said there was no evidence Mrs X had made Y’s payment by the deadline. The Council said if the payment deadline was missed, the Council would be unable to guarantee that education transport support would be in place within 5 working days of payment. It explained this was because of the high volume of workload and applications it had to deal with particularly around the start of the academic year.
27. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response to her complaint. She asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage 2 of its complaints process. Mrs X acknowledged the Council accepted it made an error with the transfer of information about the appropriate transport Y needed but she said it failed to address all of her concerns. These included the Council’s poor communication with her, its failure to return her calls and messages. The Council sending an email to her old and inactive email address despite it having her new email address which it had used in recent times to communicate with her. The Council’s misinformation that a taxi was booked to pick Y on 26 September 2022 when it had not returned the risk assessment form to the taxi company. Mrs X accepted she should have found out the post-16 payment procedure before the payment deadline. But she said the Council also failed to clarify and advise her about the post-16 transport payment process on several occasions when she asked about it. Mrs X alleged a staff had advised her she would be eligible to be reimbursed for Y’s transport cost she had incurred. She asked the Council to confirm if that was the case.
28. On 10 October 2022, the Council wrote to Mrs X. It explained it reviews special transport arrangements every half term, so it asked Mrs X to confirm if Y would continue to require the additional transport support due to her temporary medical condition. Mrs X told the Council that the medical expert had confirmed Y was now fit to use her regular school transport, so she would no longer be needing the taxi support.
29. On 14 October 2022, the Council issued its final response to Mrs X’s complaint. The Council apologised for its poor communication with Mrs X and its staff failure to return her phone calls and emails. The Council explained it was due to issues with managing high volume of communication and issues with ensuring its customer contact centre staff had access to the correct information. The Council apologised, it said the issues were being addressed and a significant programme of improvement was ongoing. The Council also apologised that Mrs X did not receive a response about the post-16 transport payment process and that it had sent an email to her old email address. It said all contact details on its systems would be checked and updated. The Council accepted its service did not meet its expected standard and it upheld Mrs X’s complaint.
30. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s final response to her complaint, and she made a complaint to the Ombudsman. Mrs X said the Council only apologised to her for its failings in how it dealt with her request for additional transport support for Y. She remained dissatisfied that the Council failed to address her request for a partial refund to cover the period additional transport support was not provided to Y. Mrs X said Y initially missed 3 days of college and every first hour of lessons for a 3-week period before the Council arranged suitable transport at the end of September 2022. Mrs X said she had to arrange / ask some of her friends for lifts to take Y to school and had to pay them the petrol cost.
31. In the Council’s response to my enquiries, it accepted there were several failings in Mrs X’s case. It said these issues were as a result of:

• its customer contact centre and staff standard of communication with parents/carers
• ineffective transfer of information to the transport service team
• human error by the transport service team
• high volume of workload during peak periods (July to October), limited resources and ineffective communication processes and practice.

32. The Council said the above identified issues are being addressed as part of its 3‑year transformation programme.
33. The Council also said post-16 transport contribution was required to be paid by the deadline, 16 August 2022. The Council explained it cannot arrange any travel provision until the payment is made. The Council said all communication and the payment deadline were published and made clear on its website. The Council said it considered and rejected Mrs X’s request for a partial refund in line with its school and transport policy. It maintained if post-16 transport payment was not made by the deadline, it is considered as a late payment and no reimbursement would be offered.

Analysis

34. There were faults by the way the Council dealt with Mrs X’s request for additional education transport support for Y.
35. The Council failed to clearly set out the post-16 transport payment process in its 26 August 2022 email to Mrs X. Although the Council stated transport provision was subject to payment of the post-16 contribution, it failed to mention the payment process and deadline for the payment. It was not until 16 September 2022 that the Council informed Mrs X about the payment process including the payment deadline. This was fault. The Council also missed out on opportunities to have informed Mrs X about the payment process during her telephone calls to it on 5 and 9 September 2022. Similarly, there was a further missed opportunity when the Council sent the payment process information to Mrs X’s old and inactive email address. These were faults and as a result caused Mrs X uncertainty, frustration and time and trouble chasing the Council for the information about the post-16 payment process.
36. There was further fault and delay by the Council in dealing with and resolving Mrs X’s request after she paid the post-16 transport contribution on 16 September 2022. The Council missed the taxi support requirement Y needed due to her temporary medical condition. The Council accepted it was due to human error. Again, the taxi service scheduled to pick Y on 26 September 2022 was cancelled but started the following day. This was because the Council failed to return the risk assessment form needed to commence the service to the taxi company. These were faults. It caused further delays with providing Y with the additional transport support she needed for college and frustration to Mrs X.
37. I note and welcome the Council has accepted its failings, apologised to Mrs X and confirmed it has a 3-year transformation programme to address its failings. However, I do not consider these are proportionate remedies to address the injustice caused to Y and Mrs X in line with our guidance on remedies. I have addressed this in the ‘agreed action’ section below.
38. Y’s college resumed 6 September 2022 and the Council provided the appropriate additional transport provision to Y on 27 September 2022. This was fault and it left Y without suitable transport provision to attend college on a full-time basis for approximately 3 weeks. Also, it caused an injustice to Mrs X with having to source and provide alternative suitable transport for Y to attend college during the 3‑week period.
39. Mrs X requested partial refund from the Council to cover the travel cost she incurred for Y’s travel to college pending when the Council arranged the taxi service for Y. The Council said it considered and rejected Mrs X’s partial refund request because she did not pay Y’s post-16 contribution by the payment deadline in accordance with its school and transport policy. However, it did not provide any evidence to support this. While the policy is clear that the Council will offer transport support to sixth form learners subject to an annual contribution being paid, there was no evidence its policy includes the alleged payment deadline of 16 August. Also, there was no evidence of the Council’s refund request criteria for transport support in its policy. These amount to fault. And as a result, the Council failed to show how it considered and reached its decision to refuse Mrs X’s partial refund request in line with its policy. I find the Council should have considered if it should refund Mrs X, given the specific circumstances of this case. This is because Mrs X had to pay for Y’s travel costs to cover the period the Council failed to provide Y with a taxi service and failed to tell her about Y’s transport payment deadline.

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Agreed action

40. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, the Council has agreed to within one month of the final decision:

• apologise in writing to Y and Mrs X in recognition of the identified faults above
• pay Y £100 for the loss of some education during the period she was left without suitable taxi service to transport her to college
• pay Mrs X its mileage allowance for the journeys to transport Y to and from school until the Council arranged suitable taxi service for Y
• by training or other means remind staff of the importance of providing residents with clear and robust information in a timely manner
• provide the Ombudsman with a copy of and an update on the Council’s 3-year transformation programme it mentioned in its response to our enquiries which is to address its communication processes and practice failings.

41. Within two months of the final decision:

• review the communication strategies and practices of transfer of information between its various departments. For instance, between customer contact centre and transport service team. This is to ensure school transport applications are dealt with effectively and in a timely manner
• review the Council’s school and college transport policy and procedures to clearly set out transport payment processes, payment deadlines and transport support refund request criteria. This should include post-16 transport payment process
• after the completion of the reviews above, by training or other means educate staff about the reviewed communication strategies and practices, the reviewed school transport policy in relation to the payment processes and refund request criteria
• explain what steps the Council will take to monitor performance against timescales.

42. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

43. I find evidence of fault by the Council leading to injustice. The Council has agreed to take action to remedy the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman