Summary: There was no fault in the way the Council considered Mrs X’s application for home to school transport.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision not to provide her child Y with free transport to their catchment school, following a change in the Council’s home to school transport policy. Mrs X complained the Council failed to effectively communicate the changes and failed to properly consider her appeal, including by producing inconsistent mapping information.
2. Mrs X also complained there was inconsistency and unfairness in the way the Council offered paid seats on school transport. This has meant she had to find ways to transport Y to school and this caused her additional frustration.

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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. 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)
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 Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. I gave Mrs X and the Council an opportunity to comment on a draft decision. I considered any comments in reaching a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law 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’ includes children living outside ‘statutory walking distance’ from the school (two miles for children under eight, three miles for children aged eight and above).
9. Councils should have an appeals process in place for parents who wish to appeal about the eligibility of their child for travel support.
10. The statutory guidance recommends councils adopt the following appeals process:

• Stage 1: 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 2: review by independent appeal panel. Within 40 working days of receipt of the parent’s request to escalate to stage 2, an independent appeal panel considers written and verbal representations. Within five working days following this, 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)

11. The statutory code of guidance sets out that:
• The statutory walking distances are used to determine whether a child is eligible for free travel to school. This is not necessarily the shortest distance by road. The route may include footpaths, bridleways, other pathways and alternative entrances to the school.
• Where the schools are beyond walking distance, councils may consider it more appropriate to measure the shortest road route or the straight line distance. It should be made clear in the council’s school travel policy how the route will be measured.
• It should be clear to parents how they can find out which is their nearest school for admissions purposes and which is the nearest for school travel purposes.
• Councils must publish their travel policy on their website and include information about their school travel policy in their composite prospectus for school admissions.
12. The guidance says an effective school travel policy will:
• Be easy for parents to find on the council’s website;
• Be clearly written so that parents may easily understand it;
• Enable parents to understand the circumstances in which a child is eligible for free travel to school;
• Tell parents how and when they should apply for free travel to school; and
• Tell parents how they may appeal against the council’s decision in relation to travel to school for their child.

The Council’s home to school travel policy

13. The Council operates catchment areas for school admissions. This means those living in a certain geographical area get priority if a school is oversubscribed. Until 2024 the Council provided school transport to the nearest school or the catchment area school for those living over three miles away.
14. In September 2024 the Council implemented a new Home To School Travel Policy. Under the new policy the Council only provides free transport to new applicants attending the nearest qualifying school to home. This meant certain towns and villages no longer qualified for transport to a catchment school and the nearest qualifying school may be in another council’s area.
15. The policy explained the nearest suitable school for school travel purposes may not be the catchment school used for admissions purposes. It said:
• ‘When deciding on eligibility for assistance with transport, the measurement from home to school will be taken from the fixed point within the property to the nearest entrance point (not always the main entrance) to the school following the nearest available walked route, as defined by the Council’s Geographical Information System (GIS)’.
• ‘The distance is not the shortest distance by road and the route may include footpaths, public rights of way, bridleways and other pathways identified on the GIS.
• ‘Parents have the right to preference any school of their choice when applying for a school place, they do not however have a right to free-of-charge travel arrangements to that school. Travel eligibility will be assessed in line with the eligibility criteria in this policy. If the nearest school is undersubscribed with places available, then it will be the nearest suitable school for travel purposes, and free travel would not be provided to an alternative school that is further away’.
• ‘If the nearest school is fully subscribed without places available, then the Council will need to assess if the child could have secured a place had one been applied for. This will be done by comparing the child with the last child to be offered a place at the school and determining which of them would have higher priority. This will often be a straightforward matter of determining which child lives closest to the school’.
16. In relation to discretionary arrangements the policy states that ‘where there is capacity in existing dedicated transport services provided for eligible children, it may be possible for spare seats to be purchased by parents/carers- applications are made through the Council website’.
17. The Council operates a two stage appeal procedure: a stage on review by a senior officer and a stage two appeal heard by the Council’s school transport appeals committee (a small group of elected councillors). The policy states that the committee considers the policy guidelines but may recommend departure from those guidelines in exceptional cases.

Paid travel permits

18. The Council’s website sets out that pupils and students can apply for a paid travel permit if they are not eligible for free school transport. Under ‘paid travel permit terms and conditions’ it explains that paid travel can be withdrawn at any time by the Council’s discretion by giving one week’s notice. This includes when the journey becomes solely use by paid travel permit holders, the allocated seat is required for a pupil eligible for home to school transport or if a reduction in vehicle capacity is required during the academic year.

What happened

19. Mrs X’s first choice of school was school A. Mrs X said they were aware that transport would not be provided to school A, but she knew there was a bus service and Y could get a paid bus pass. In the normal admissions round Mrs X’s child Y was not allocated their first choice of school, school A. They were allocated their next choice, which was the local catchment area school, school B. In May 2025 Mrs X received a letter advising her that Y did not qualify for free home to school transport as school B was not the nearest suitable school. Mrs X appealed against the Council’s decision. She said the nearest school (school C) was in a different council’s area and there was no bus to school C. Both Y’s parents worked and were unable to transport Y to school.
20. The Council in its stage one response said it was not required to take work commitments into account. It said the fact that the nearest school was in a different council’s area did not make it unsuitable. Y was not attending the nearest school and the changes to the policy were widely publicised as part of the admissions process.
21. Mrs X asked to go to the next stage of the appeals process. She said school C and the next nearest school (also in a different council’s area) were full so school A was the nearest suitable school.
22. The Council’s school transport appeals committee heard Mrs X’s appeal in mid July 2025. Mrs X did not attend. The Council’s representative explained they had consulted the neighbouring council. If Mrs X had applied Y would have got a place at school C on national offer day. Paid permits may be available but could not be guaranteed. They explained work commitments could not be taken into account in determining transport eligibility.
23. The committee asked whether school C had places and the Council representative confirmed it did have on national offer day but was now full. The committee decided the Council had properly applied the policy and there were no exceptional circumstances. It did not uphold the appeal.
24. Mrs X complained to us that the Council had not properly communicated the policy, that inconsistent maps were provided at the stage two appeal and there were issues with the bus pass application process. This meant Mrs X was unable to obtain a paid bus pass as the bus used to transport children to the school as already full.
25. Mrs X provided additional information to the Ombudsman regarding the maps used at the appeal. She said the end points used for the school were not to an entrance but were to the centre of the school building. Ms X said this made the appeal procedurally unsound.

Findings

26. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
27. The Council’s transport appeals committee properly considered the information Mrs X provided and decided the Council had applied the school transport policy correctly and there were no exceptional circumstances. This was a decision the committee was entitled to take and there was no evidence of fault in the way it reached its decision.
28. In complaining to us Mrs X raised concerns about the way the Council communicated the policy change and the maps used at appeals. This is new information which Mrs X did not have prior to her appeal. I have considered whether to recommend a fresh appeal but do not consider it appropriate in this case. This is because:
• if there were issues with the maps the distance between the entrance to the school and the centre of the school is not significant enough to make a difference to which is the nearest suitable school to Y’s home address.
• even if I were to find faults in the way the Council communicated the new policy, I do not consider this caused Mrs X a significant injustice. From discussion with Mrs X I am satisfied that on balance Y would still have chosen to attend school B rather than school C.
29. Mrs X does not agree with the Council’s revised policy and its decision to no longer provide transport to the catchment or the nearest suitable school. However, it is for the Council to decide on its transport policy, and it followed the correct process in revising it. The Council is not at fault.
30. Mrs X was unable to purchase a paid seat on school transport. The Council is entitled to offer paid seats on transport where there is space available. It has no responsibility to ensure a bus or transport service exists to a school for those where it does not have a statutory duty to provide transport. The Council’s website explains the terms and conditions for paid bus passes and it offers these on a first come first served basis. Whilst Mrs X may consider this unfair, it is not Council fault.

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Decision

31. The Council was not at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman