Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse a home to school transport application. It is unlikely we would find fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council should agree to provide home to school transport.

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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:
3. there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating;

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council, which includes the home to school transport application decision and review and appeal documents.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Council duties

6. 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 suitable 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)

7. Councils should have an appeals process in place for parents who wish to appeal about the eligibility of their child for travel support.
8. 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: 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)

Events

9. The Council granted Miss X’s child, B, a place at School Y, which is six miles from their home. Miss X applied for home to school transport. The Council refused her application. It said there was a closer school to her home, School Z.
10. Miss X asked the Council to review the decision, it did and still refused her application. She appealed to its internal appeals panel. It refused her application as School Z is less than a mile and half from her home and if she had applied for a place there, she probably would have been granted one.
11. Miss X says she did apply to a closer school but was not granted a place. However, School Z is also closer and she did not apply for a place at that school.
12. 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 the Council 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 Miss X disagrees with the Council’s decision.
13. I have considered the steps the Council took to consider the issue, and the information it took account of when deciding to refusing Miss X’s application for home to school transport. It is unlikely we would find fault in how it took the decision.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman