Overview:

Key to names used

• Ms X The first complainant
• Ms Y The second complainant
• Ms Z The third complainant

Summary

Ms X, Ms Y and Ms Z complained about the Council’s offer of transport support for their children via a personal travel budget (PTB), rather than providing a vehicle, and about the handling of their subsequent transport appeals. They complained the Council’s decision to offer a PTB was impractical and unaffordable for their individual circumstances. Their children all have Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans and are older than 16.

Finding

Fault found causing injustice and recommendations made.

Recommendations

The Council must consider the report and confirm within three months the action it has taken or proposes to take. The Council should consider the report at its full Council, Cabinet or other appropriately delegated committee of elected members and we will require evidence of this. (Local Government Act 1974, section 31(2), as amended)

To remedy the injustice caused to each complainant, within one month of this report we recommend the Council should:

Ms X

• Apologise to Ms X for the impact of the fault. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apologies we have recommended in our findings.
• Pay Ms X £1,000 to acknowledge the time, trouble, distress and avoidable uncertainty caused by the fault and incurred during the complaint process. This includes the distress and uncertainty of whether her transport application outcome may have been different had it been considered properly.

Ms Y

• Apologise to Ms Y for the impact of the fault.

• Pay Ms Y £250 to acknowledge the time, trouble, distress and avoidable uncertainty caused by the fault and incurred during the complaint process.

• Pay Ms Y £1,240 for the additional care and time spent driving her child to school when the Council should have provided a vehicle.

• Pay Ms Y mileage expenses for 124 days of attendance.

• Pay Ms Y, on behalf of her child, £1,600 to acknowledge the missed education and impact on their attendance.

The Council may deduct from the above, the financial remedy and PTB it has already paid Ms Y.

Ms Z

• Apologise to Ms Z for the impact of the fault.

• Pay Ms Z £150 to acknowledge the time, trouble, distress and avoidable uncertainty caused by the failure to properly consider her application at the initial stages or at appeal.

Others potentially affected

We consider that a member of the public who has not complained to us may have suffered an injustice because of the faults in the Council’s transport decision and appeal process. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26D and 34E, as amended). Within one month of our report, we recommend the Council should:

Issue a notice on the Council’s Home to School transport website for all post- 16 learners who applied for transport between April 2023 and July 2024 to contact the Council if they consider their application was incorrectly assessed. The Council will reassess their application against its revised post-16 transport policy issued in July 2024.

Service Improvement

We recommend within three months of our report, the Council should:

• Ensure all decision makers are aware of the need to consider the individual circumstances of each case, of the Council’s residual duty in cases of ‘real need’ and that officers and panel members know they can depart from the published policy if necessary to facilitate attendance in a particular case. We suggest the factors in R (S) v Education (Waltham Forest) [2006] EWHC 3144 provide a useful guide to assist decision makers.

• Ensure decision makers make brief notes to show how they have considered the individual circumstances, including cost and affordability.

• Provide guidance to transport staff to signpost parent carers to social care for needs assessments proactively.

The Council has accepted these recommendations to remedy the complaint. The Council has also carried out the following actions to remedy the complaint:

• Reviewed Ms Z’s case.

• Re-assessed Ms Y’s case in line with the Council’s revised policy.

• Carried out a review of the Council’s post-16 statement and implemented recommendations.

• Published a revised policy.

• Reviewed the Council’s stage two appeals process, documents and information for parents.

• Provided training for Appeal Panel Members on the revised policy.

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