Summary: There was delay by the Council in agreeing and putting in place transport for Y’s college placement and lateness by the taxi the Council commissioned. This caused avoidable distress, inconvenience and missed education. The Council will apologise and make payments.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed agreeing and organising school transport for her son Y. She said the transport provided (a taxi) was often late and as a result he was late for college and also could not attend for the first few weeks of the autumn term. This caused her avoidable distress and inconvenience as the college blamed her for Y’s lateness. It caused Y to miss out on education and he also suffered distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. Service failure can happen when an organisation fails to provide a service as it should have done because of circumstances outside its control. We do not need to show any blame, intent, flawed policy or process, or bad faith by an organisation to say service failure (fault) has occurred. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1), as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered the complaint to us and documents set out in this statement.
6. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

7. The Council’s post-16 school transport policy says travel support is discretionary. Applications are made to the Council’s SEN transport team by a form online or by an email. The policy says applications are considered within four working days of receipt and it sets out the factors the Council considers when it decides an application. These include:
• The nature of the young person’s special educational needs/disability
• The EHC Plan
• Whether there is a nearer institution suitable which could provide same or similar qualifications
• Whether it is an efficient use of public resources if parent has requested a college not the nearest one that could meet needs.

What happened

8. Y has special educational needs and was due to start post-16 education in September 2023
9. Ms X contacted the Council at the start of September about transport for Y. The SEND caseworker emailed her to say the Council’s transport team was responsible for dealing with applications for transport and would consider if the college course Y was going to do could be accessed at a college closer to his home.
10. The Council issued an amended final EHC Plan naming College A as Y’s placement on 13 September. The following day, Ms X emailed the transport team requesting transport.
11. The available evidence indicates the Council agreed funding for a taxi for Y. Transport was in place from 20 September.
12. A letter from College A in the middle of December said Y’s attendance was at 81% for the term. Ms X provided me with a copy of Y’s attendance register with the times he was recorded as in school. She has highlighted lateness in the morning on 12 occasions.
13. An officer from the transport team emailed Ms X at the start of January 2024 about the taxi. The officer said they had met with the taxi company and received assurances the service would improve. The officer explained the Council would only provide a taxi for the start of the first lesson at 9 am and the end of the last lesson at 4pm and outside these times, the college would need to arrange transport.
14. An officer from the transport team emailed Ms X again at the end of February to say from the end of the week, a council vehicle and driver would provide Y’s transport.
15. Ms X confirmed in her complaint to us that there were no further issues with punctuality. She has provided an undated email from College A saying Y’s overall attendance between September 2023 and June 2024 was at 64%. The email went on to say Y’s attendance was affected by the lack of transport at the start of the school year as he was unable to attend for the first few weeks of the course.
16. Ms X complained to the Council about the matters in this statement (and other matters which I am investigating under reference 23018792). The Council’s final response said the transport team had organised alternative transport to address her concerns and the issue of lateness had been resolved.

Findings

17. I uphold this complaint. The issue boils down to the Council’s delay in issuing Y’s post 16 Education, Health and Care Plan which I have investigated separately and also upheld (see reference 23018792). Until the college placement was confirmed in a final EHC Plan, Ms X could not make a formal application for transport. The transport team needed to know which educational establishment was named on the Plan in order to consider an application for transport under its policy. The delay was not Ms X’s fault and she applied for transport by email the day after receiving the final amended Plan.
18. The Council should have ensured Y had transport to enable him to start at College A at the start of term. As a result of the fault, Y missed out on college for the first few weeks of the Autumn Term.
19. The taxi the Council secured was often late and this was fault (service failure). It caused Y to miss all or part of his first lesson on a number of occasions.
20. The fault I have identified caused Ms X and Y avoidable distress. Y missed out on education and Ms X was caused avoidable inconvenience as it affected her ability to pursue her own studies.

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Agreed action

21. Within one month, the Council will:
• Apologise. 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 apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Pay Ms X £250 to reflect her avoidable distress and inconvenience.
• Pay Y £250 to reflect the education he missed and his avoidable distress.
22. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the actions in the last paragraph.

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Final decision

23. There was delay by the Council in agreeing and putting in place transport for Y’s college placement and lateness by the taxi the Council commissioned. This caused avoidable distress, inconvenience and missed education. The Council will apologise and make payments to reflect this.
24. I completed the investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman