Essex County Council (23 004 350)
Category : Education > School transport
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Jul 2023
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to make arrangements to enable the complainant to get her children to school on time. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, complains that the Council has failed to make appropriate arrangements to enable her children to get to school on time.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X’s children attend different schools. Her son qualifies for free home to school transport. Mrs X says her son’s morning pick-up time prevents her from getting her daughter to her school on time.
- Mrs X has asked the Council to address the issue by paying for her daughter to attend a breakfast club at the school. The Council did so temporarily but has declined to do so on an ongoing basis. Mrs X complains that the decision is unreasonable.
- In response to Mrs X’s complaint about its decision, the Council has said that it has fulfilled its duties by providing appropriate transport for her son, who qualifies for assistance. It points out that, as Mrs X’s daughter does not qualify, responsibility for getting her to school rests with Mrs X and it has no duty to assist.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part. The correspondence shows that the Council has discharged its duties towards Mrs X and her children, and has properly explained why it will not exceed them. There are no grounds for us to intervene.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman