Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s decision not to provide her with son with home to school transport. We find the Council was at fault for failing for consider Miss X’s son’s ability to walk to school. This has caused Miss X uncertainty and frustration. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and rehear her stage two appeal with a different panel.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s decision not to provide her son (Y) with home to school transport. Miss X says the Council has failed to properly consider Y’s mobility and special educational needs.
2. Miss X says the Council’s faults have caused distress and upset to her and her family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
5. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Miss 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 legislation and guidance

8. Local authorities must make suitable home to school travel arrangements as they consider necessary for ‘eligible children’ of compulsory school age to attend their ‘qualifying school’. The travel arrangements must be made and provided free of charge. The relevant qualifying school is the nearest school with places available that provides education appropriate to the age, ability and aptitude of the child, and any special educational needs the child may have. ‘Eligible children’ include:

• children living outside ‘statutory walking distance’ from the school (two miles for children under eight, three miles for children aged eight and above);
• children living within walking distance of the school but who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability or mobility problem;
• children living within walking distance of the school but who cannot walk to school because the route is unsafe; and
• children entitled on low-income grounds. (Education Act 1996, 508B(1) and Schedule 35B)

9. Local authorities will need to assess eligibility on the grounds of special educational needs, disability or mobility problems on a case-by-case basis. The assessment should take account of the child’s physical ability to walk to school and any health and safety issues related to their special educational needs, disability or mobility problems. It may take account of whether they would be able to walk to school if they were accompanied.
10. Where the local authority determines that a child would be able to walk if they were accompanied, the general expectation is that the parent will accompany them or make other suitable arrangements for their journey to and from school. (Department of Education, Travel to school for children of compulsory school age statutory guidance 2023, paragraphs 47 to 52)
11. Councils should have an appeals process in place for parents who wish to appeal about the eligibility of their child for travel support.
12. The statutory guidance recommends councils adopt the following appeals process:

• Stage one: review by a senior officer. Within 20 working days of receiving a parent’s written request to appeal the decision, a senior officer reviews the original decision and sends the parent a detailed written notification of the outcome of the review setting out the nature of the decision, how the review was conducted, what was taken into account, the rationale for the decision reached, and how to escalate their case to stage 2; and
• Stage two: Within 40 working days of receipt of the parent’s request for an independent appeal panel to consider written and verbal representations, a detailed decision is sent setting out: the nature of the decision reached; how the review was conducted; what factors were considered; the rationale for the decision reached; and information about appealing to us.
  (Department of Education, Travel to school for children of compulsory school age statutory guidance 2023, Part 5)

What happened

13. Y has special educational needs and mobility difficulties. Miss X applied to the Council for Y to receive home to school transport. She said Y has no sense of danger and he has low muscle tone. She said she used a pushchair to take Y to school.
14. The Council rejected Miss X’s application. It said Y lives within the statutory walking distance and therefore he was not eligible for transport.
15. Miss X appealed. She said she could not take Y to school because of family commitments. She provided further information, including medical documents, about Y’s special educational needs and mobility issues.
16. The Council issued its stage one decision. It said the walking route from home to school is safe and it was reasonable for Y to walk with adult support. This could include using a walking harness or handholding to ensure Y’s safety. It said it was reasonable for her to accompany, or arrange for someone else to accompany, Y to school.
17. Miss X asked for an independent appeal panel to consider her case. She said she had tried using a walking harness and reins with no luck. She said Y refuses to wear shoes most of the time, and he clings to her and refuses to move when he hears traffic. She said she could not force Y to walk due to his complex needs.
18. Miss X attended the panel hearing. She said she relied on her sister for help. She said her other children have special educational needs and she has to take them school. She also repeated her previous points about Y’s inability to walk to school. The panel considered whether Miss X could do the school run without her sister’s help. Members of the panel decided it was possible. They decided to reject Miss X’s appeal.
19. The Council wrote to Miss X after the hearing. It said the panel decided the distance from home to school was a reasonable walking distance as Y does not present with mobility needs which impact his ability to walk.

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Analysis

20. Statutory guidance confirms if a child has special educational needs or a disability, the Council needs to assess eligibility for home to school transport on a case-by-case basis. The Council initially rejected Miss X’s application because Y lives within the statutory walking distance. There is no evidence the Council considered the information Miss X had provided about Y’s special educational needs and mobility issues. This is fault.
21. The test for the panel to consider is whether Y could walk to school, accompanied as necessary. The panel considered Miss X’s circumstances and decided she could reasonably accompany Y to school. That was a decision it was entitled to take.
22. However, there is no evidence the panel considered whether Y could walk to school. Miss X provided medical documentation, including reports from an occupational therapist and educational psychologist, during the appeals process. These documents refer to Y having low muscle tone and poor fine and gross motor control skills. The notes do not show the panel considered this information, and other arguments Miss X had made Y’s inability to walk to school, when it decided to reject Miss X’s appeal. This is fault.
23. The Council said in its stage two decision letter Y does not present with mobility needs which impact his ability to walk. However, there is no explanation on how the panel reached that decision, or an explanation on why members were not persuaded by the medical documentation about Y’s mobility. This is fault.
24. The Council’s faults have caused Miss X frustration. She also has uncertainty about the decision the Council reached. The Council should remedy this injustice.
25. We have recently issued a decision and asked the Council to provide training for school transport officers and panel members on home to school transport and the statutory guidance. I have therefore not made any service improvement recommendations in this case.

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Agreed action

26. By 29 October 2025 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Miss X for the injustice caused by fault in this statement.
• Rehear Miss X’s stage two appeal with a different panel.

27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

28. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman