Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint regarding home to school transport for his son. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council, and it has now agreed to a Personal Transport Budget. We could not achieve anything more.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mr X, complained about the decision not to provide his son (Y) with individual transport to school, or a Personal Transport Budget (PTB) as an alternative.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or

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

3. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X asked the Council to provide his son (Y) with transport to school. Y has an Education, Health and Care Plan, and was transferring to a new school. Because of Y’s special educational needs, Mr X asked the Council to provide him with individual transport. The Council refused Mr X’s request because of a lack of medical evidence in support his request.
7. Councils must apply their transport policy when deciding entitlement to school transport. But they also have the discretion to consider exceptional circumstances. They must have a review or appeal process by which to do so.
8. Mr X has appealed the Council’s decision. An independent panel considered Mr X’s stage 2 appeal. They considered the information Mr X sent and evidence from the Council. Mr X had the chance to present his case. Mr X explained why he wanted individual transport and his difficulties in obtaining medical evidence in support of his request.
9. The panel decided the Council had correctly dealt with Mr X’s original application. It also noted a lack of medical evidence and that Y had not yet had the chance to use the transport the Council would provide. The panel decided there were no specific circumstance meaning it should grant individual transport. It said that if the transport operator had any concerns, they could raise them with the Council.
10. The Ombudsman is not a right of further appeal. We cannot question decisions where the proper process has been followed and if there were no flaws in the Council’s decision making.
11. In this case, the Council rejected Mr X’s original application due to a lack of supporting evidence. It then considered Mr X’s appeals in line with its published policy. The panel looked at the information it was presented with, reached a decision it was entitled to, and explained its decision.
12. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered Mr X’s application and appeals to warrant our involvement.
13. Turning to Mr X’s request for a PTB instead of transport, the Council told us it had now agreed to a PTB. An investigation by the Ombudsman could not achieve anything more and so we will not consider this point.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault for us to question the merits of the Council’s decision. The Council has now agreed to Mr X’s request for a PTB, and we could not achieve anything more.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman