Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s home-to-school transport arrangements for her child. This is because, at our invitation, the Council agreed to conduct a new Independent Review appeal to consider the transport arrangements. We consider this a suitable remedy.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s home-to-school transport arrangements for her child and the impact these have had on her child and family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended

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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. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Mrs X injustice. This is because Independent Review Panels are expected to show their reasoning and it is not clear how this Panel reached its decision. The panel notes recorded the information presented to the Review Panel, which included the child’s medical evidence but did not explain how the Panel took this into account in its decision-making. As a result, the Panel failed to demonstrate it had considered whether the current transport arrangements were suitable to meet the child’s medical needs.

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Agreed actions

6. The Council agreed to resolve the matters in paragraph 5 and will do the following to put things right:

1. Conduct a new Independent Review appeal or provide contemporaneous records explaining how the Panel reached its decision, including why the medical evidence was not accepted. The new appeal should use the same information Mrs X previously submitted.
2. Write to Mrs X with the new appeal outcome.
3. Keep a clear, contemporaneous record of the Panel’s decision-making.

7. The Council will complete these points within one month of the date of this decision statement.

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Final decision

8. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by agreeing to conduct a new independent review to consider the home-to-school transport arrangement for Mrs X’s child.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman