Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to remove free transport for new starters at a school which Mrs X’s child attends. However, Mrs X’s child already receives free transport and will continue to receive it until they finish the education phase, move house or move schools. Mrs X says paying for transport for her second child will be a financial burden. However they are not due to start the school for another three years. Therefore we do not consider Mrs X has suffered sufficient injustice currently to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has removed free school transport for the children living on her estate. She says this will be a financial burden on families including herself.

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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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.

(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 has a child attending a school which I shall call school A.
6. The Council confirms it has provided free school transport from the estate where Mrs X lives to school A for some years. However it says this was due to an historical error. The error was discovered in 2024 when it introduced a new system. It decided to continue to provide free transport for those children already receiving it until they completed the education phase, moved house or moved school. This includes Mrs X’s child who already attends school A.
7. Mrs X says the decision not to provide free transport for children who will attend the school in the future will place a financial burden on families. However, Mrs X has no authority to complain on behalf of anyone else. Therefore I can only consider the impact of this Council’s actions on Mrs X.
8. The Council is continuing to provide transport for her child already at the school, so her current circumstances are unaffected. She says her other child will start school A in three years and will not get free transport. However, the claimed injustice is premature. There is no guarantee they will attend school A as Mrs X’s circumstances or the Council’s policy may change in the coming years.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we consider her claimed injustice is premature as her second child is not due to start school A for three years. And Mrs X has no authority to complain on behalf of anyone else.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman