Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council refusing to provide her child with free transport to school. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained the Council has refused to provide her daughter (Y) with free transport to school.

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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 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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What I found

School transport

5. The Department for Education has produced statutory guidance for Councils to help understand their duties regarding school transport. The Guidance states councils have a duty to provide free transport to eligible children who attend their nearest suitable school and:
• live more than the statutory walking distance from that school, or
• who live within statutory walking distance of the school, but who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to that school because of their special educational needs, disability, or mobility problem (even if accompanied by their parent), or
• who live within walking distance of the school but would not be able to walk to that school in reasonable safety, even if they were accompanied by their parent.
6. The guidance states that for children of secondary school age the nearest secondary school to home will almost always be their nearest suitable school. The guidance states that it is reasonable for a local authority to expect parents to list their nearest school on their application form if they intend to apply for free travel to school. 
7. Councils also have powers to provide discretionary transport to children who are not eligible children.
8. Councils should have an appeals process for parents to challenge decisions about home to school transport.

Background

9. Mrs X asked the Council to provide Y with free transport to the secondary school (School C) she would soon attend. The Council refused Mrs X’s application. It said School C was not the nearest suitable school to Mrs X’s home. It said School B was closer. This meant there was no entitlement to free transport to School C.
10. Mrs X appealed the Council’s decision. Mrs X said that while School B was closer than School C, she did not live within its catchment area. Y would not therefore have been offered a place. Mrs X said School B had opened after she moved into her current home – located within a village. Y attended a feeder primary for School C. Mrs X said all the children in her local village received free transport to School C. Mrs X said transport operated to School C, but not School B. Mrs X said the two schools were very close to each other.
11. A senior officer considered Mrs X’s case at the final stage of the Council’s appeals process. They noted Mrs X did not apply for a place at School B. The Council’s policy said it would not provide transport if there was a nearer school to home and the parent did not apply for a place; in this case, that was School B. The Council said its position was in line with the statutory guidance. The Council set out the information available to parents when applying for a school place and free transport. The Council said the distance between School B and School C was not insignificant. School B opened several years before Mrs X started to apply for school places. Other children in Mrs X’s village likely received free transport as School C was the closest when they applied. The Council considered all the points raised by Mrs X but decided there were no grounds to provide transport.

Assessment

12. We will not start an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint.
13. 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 a complainant disagrees with the decision the organisation made.
14. In this case, the Council’s policy is clear that if a parent applies for transport and did not apply for a place at a closer school, they will not be eligible for transport. The statutory guidance makes it clear this approach is acceptable and so it is not one we can question. There is also not enough evidence of fault in the information made available to parents about the Council’s policy.
15. The Council has followed the proper process to consider Mrs X’s application and appeals. Mrs X had a chance to take part in the appeals process, and at stage 2 the officer considered all the information presented. The Council wrote to Mrs X and explained its decision. While I understand Mrs X is disappointed with the Council’s decision, there is not enough evidence of fault in how it was reached for us to become involved.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman