Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to provide free school transport. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to appropriately consider her child Y’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) and her family’s circumstance in its decision to refuse free school transport. She says its decision has caused avoidable stress and added further challenges to their lives.

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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. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (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. Ms X appealed the refusal. The Council rejected the appeal basing its decision on Ms X’s ability to cope with the challenges Y’s SEN presents while relying on support from relatives.
7. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find fault by the Council in the way it considered the appeal against its statutory duties. This is because I do not consider that the Council fully assessed eligibility on the grounds of Y’s SEN.
8. I therefore asked the Council to consider resolving this complaint by reconsidering Ms X’s application within a month to remedy the distress caused by its refusal.
9. To its credit, the Council accepted my recommendation and has reconsidered its decision by agreeing to arrange free school transport for Y with immediate effect.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint because the Council agreed to resolve it by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused by the likely fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman