Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s home to school transport policy and the Council’s pick-up and drop off arrangements for her child. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s home to school transport policy. Miss X complained about the process to request an alternative drop-off point for her child, Y. Miss X said the Council’s policy was flawed.
2. Miss X said the matter caused her frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

Background

6. Miss X has a child, Y. The Council provides home to school transport for Y via a taxi.
7. In January 2025 Miss X asked the Council to change the arrangement for Y’s after school drop-off so they could attend an after-school club for part of the week.
8. The Council considered Miss X’s request and exercised its discretion to transport Y to the after-school club.
9. Miss X complained to the Council. Miss X said the process for requesting an alternative drop-off point was unclear and said the Council’s policy was too rigid. Miss X asked the Council to reimburse three months’ transport costs between January 2025 and March 2025 for the cost of taking Y to their after-school club.
10. The Council told Miss X it had agreed to transport Y to their after-school club for the remainder of the academic year under its discretion. It said it considered the individual circumstances but would not reimburse Miss X for the period January 2025 to March 2025.

Analysis

11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Education Act 1996 states: “‘Home to school travel arrangements’”, in relation to an eligible child, are travel arrangements relating to travel in both directions between the child's home and the relevant educational establishment in question in relation to that child.” (Education Act 1996, 508B(3).
12. The Council is obliged to provide transport to and from Y’s home because it determined they were an eligible child. It is not obliged to provide transport to and from Y’s school and another location of Miss X’s choosing.
13. The Council considered Miss X’s individual request and exercised its discretion to provide transport to Y to their after-school club. It was not required to do so but chose to do so using its discretion. It made the decision in a matter of weeks.
14. Consequently, there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation, and so we will not investigate this complaint.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman