Summary: We will not investigate Ms 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 Ms X, complained the Council has refused to provide her child (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.

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. Ms X asked the Council to provide Y with free transport to their secondary school (School C). The Council refused Ms X’s application. It said School C was not the nearest suitable school to Ms X’s home. It said School B was closer. This meant there was no entitlement to free transport to School C.
10. Ms X appealed the Council’s decision and set out the background to her case. Ms X explained why she did not want Y to attend School B. Ms X explained why she had applied for a place at School C and the difficulties it would cause if the Council did not provide transport.
11. An independent panel considered Ms X’s case at the final stage of the appeals process. Ms X had the chance to take part in the process. The panel considered information from the Council and Ms X. The panel decided the Council had properly applied its policy and it decided there were no grounds to make an exception and to provide transport.

Assessment

12. We will not start an investigation into Ms 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 has followed the proper process to consider Ms X’s application and appeals. Ms X had a chance to take part in the appeals process, and at stage 2 the panel considered all the information presented. The Council wrote to Ms X and explained its decision. While I understand Mr 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

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman