Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s initial decision to reject Mrs X’s application for travel assistance for her child, Y. This is because the Council has already provided a suitable remedy to address the injustice Mrs X and Y experienced due to this matter.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council initially rejected her application for travel assistance for her child Y, who has special educational needs (SEN).

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s child Y has special education needs (SEN). Mrs X applied to the Council for travel assistance for Y and the Council initially rejected the application because Y was not attending the nearest school, which is the Council’s policy.
6. Mrs X appealed the decision, and it was shown that a SEN panel had placed Y at their current placement. The Council overturned its decision and apologised for Mrs X’s experience. The Council also agreed to provide Mrs X with a backdated payment to recognise the money she had spent taking Y to school.
7. Mrs X remains unhappy with the situation and wants us to find the Council at fault. The Council has acknowledged that it acted with fault when it initially rejected Mrs X’s application for school transport. It responded to this by apologising, overturning the decision and reimbursing Mrs X for Y’s travel costs. These were reasonable actions for the Council to take and any injustice suffered by Mrs X and Y has been accounted for by these actions. An investigation would therefore not provide Mrs X with a different outcome.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the Council has already provided a suitable remedy to address the injustice Mrs X and Y experienced due to this matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman