Summary: The Council was at fault for delaying putting in place school transport for Y from September 2024. When the Council put this is place a month later, it did not transport Y consistently to and from school which was also fault. The Council delayed responding to Mrs X’s complaint about this. The Council apologised and reimbursed Mrs X for the money spent on private transport. We are satisfied with the Council’s actions to remedy the injustice caused to Mrs X. The Council has also agreed to remind complaints officers to issue complaint responses within the correct timescales.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council:
• Delayed putting in place school transport for Y from September 2024; and
• Did not transport Y consistently to and from school.
2. As a result, Mrs X said she had to pay for private taxis which has caused her distress, frustration and uncertainty.

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

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What I have and have not investigated

6. Mrs X complained to us in July 2025 about matters starting in September 2024 so this is the start point of my investigation. The Council issued its final stage complaint response in December 2025 so this is the end point of my investigation.
7. The Council said transport commenced for Y again in early January 2026. Mrs X disputes this. Mrs X said she was still paying for taxis in January 2026 which the Council has not reimbursed her for. Mrs X will need to make a new complaint about this to the Council as my investigation ends in December 2025.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and guidance

EHC Plan

10. A child or young person with special educational needs may have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out the child’s needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them. The EHC Plan is set out in sections. We cannot direct changes to the sections about their needs, education, or the name of the educational placement. Only the Tribunal or the council can do this. 

School transport

11. 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)

The Council’s corporate complaints policy

12. The Council’s corporate complaints policy says it will respond to stage two complaints within 20 working days.

What happened

13. Mrs X has a child, Y, with special educational needs and an EHC Plan in place. Y qualifies for free home to school transport. From September 2024, the Council arranged for a taxi to take Y to and from school.
14. In January 2025, Mrs X complained the Council had not arranged school transport for Y from September 2024. She also complained that despite notifying the Council of a timetable change, the transport was not arranged for the correct times. Mrs X said she had to pay £950 in private taxis to take Y to and from school.
15. The Council issued a final stage complaint response in May 2025 saying the following:
• There was a problem with the Council’s transport data meaning Y’s details were not passed onto the transport supplier. This was resolved at the start of October 2024;
• It delayed processing the change to Y’s timetable due to high workloads and staff absence. This was resolved in January 2025; and
• It would reimburse Mrs X the £950 she had spent on private taxis.
16. In July 2025, Mrs X made a further complaint that the taxi service was not taking Y to and from school consistently. Mrs X said that at times, the transport was cancelled without notice or explanation. Mrs X said since the Council’s final complaint response in May 2025, she had spent a further £300 on private taxis.
17. The Council issued a stage one complaint response in August 2025 upholding the complaint and offered mileage reimbursement at 45 pence per mile.
18. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage two in October 2025 as she said she was still having to submit expenses as the Council has still not arranged school transport. The Council issued a final complaint response at the end of December 2025. It said the following:
• It apologised for the delay in responding to the complaint;
• The Council’s previous contract with the transport supplier ended in May 2025 and it had not transferred Y’s details to the new provider for them to be able to transport Y for the rest of the school year which ended in July 2025;
• It apologised for this error in its tendering process;
• It would reimburse Mrs X for the cost of the private taxi’s up until July 2025;
• For the current academic year starting in September 2025, the Council still had no transport in place for Y as it was waiting for confirmation of Y’s eligibility for school transport. The Council said the issues occurred due to delays in the SEND team passing on Y’s amended timetable to the transport team; and
• The Council completed a travel assessment on 12 November 2025 and said transport would commence in January 2026.
19. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s handling of the matter and complained to us. Mrs X has confirmed the Council has reimbursed her for the money spent on taxis for the 2024-2025 school year.

The Council’s response to our enquiries

20. The Council has confirmed and provided evidence it reimbursed the cost of taxis between September 2025 and December 2025.
21. The Council has said it has since implemented a new Dynamic Purchasing System and supporting software for tendering home-to-school transport. The Council said this system has strengthened internal processes and reduced the frequency of errors and omissions.

My findings

School transport

22. The Council accepted there was a one-month delay in it getting school transport in place. Mrs X then notified the Council of a timetable change for Y but the Council delayed processing this for one month. This meant that Y was not receiving school transport between September-October 2024 and December 2024-January 2025. This was fault.
23. The Council’s contract with the transport supplier then ended in May 2025 and it failed to transfer Y’s details to the new provider which meant Y did not receive transport between May and the end of the school year. This was also fault.
24. The Council confirmed there was also no transport in place for the following school year between September 2025-December 2025 due to delays in the SEND team passing on Y’s amended timetable to the transport team. This was fault.
25. As a result, Y has received little school transport between September 2024-December 2025. This caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty as she had to pay for private taxis to get Y to and from school. The Council has since reimbursed Mrs X for the money she spent on private taxis in between September 2024-December 2025. I am satisfied this is a suitable remedy.
26. As the Council has implemented a new Dynamic Purchasing System and supporting software to improve its home-to-school transport internal and tendering processes, I have not made a further service improvement. We will continue to monitor the success of the Council’s new system through our casework.

Complaint handling

27. Mrs X escalated her complaint to stage two at the start of October 2025. The Council should have issued a stage two complaint response at the start of November 2025 at the latest. It did not issue one until the end of December 2025 which was a delay of eight weeks and fault.
28. This caused Mrs X distress, frustration and uncertainty and it was a missed opportunity to resolve the complaint sooner. The Council has apologised for this which I consider a suitable remedy for the injustice caused.
29. I have made a service improvement recommendation to prevent future injustice from similar fault.

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Action

30. Within one month of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. Provide guidance to complaints officers that complaint responses should be issued within the timescales set out in the Council’s complaints policy.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman