Summary: Miss X complained the Council delayed providing her son with suitable home to school transport. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in providing Miss X’s son with suitable transport. This caused Miss X frustration and upset, and her son missed education and specialist provision. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Miss X and implement a service improvement.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council delayed providing her son, Y, with suitable home to school transport. As a result, Y missed several weeks of education and specialist provision. It also caused Miss X distress and upset.

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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 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)
3. 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)
4. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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What I found

Home to school transport

7. 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.

What happened

8. Y has special educational needs and an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This document sets out a child’s special educational needs and what arrangements should be made to meet them.
9. Miss X applied to the Council in May 2025 for Y to receive home to school transport. She explained Y was receiving transport at his current school, but he was moving to a different school site from September 2025 onwards. She ticked on the application form that Y needed a passenger assistant.
10. The Council rejected the application and said Y did not qualify for home to school transport. Miss X asked the Council to review its decision. She provided further information about Y’s needs.
11. The Council reviewed Miss X’s review request in early June and agreed to provide Y with home to school transport. It said the transport team would contact her in due course to advise about the transport arrangements.
12. Miss X emailed the Council in mid-June. She asked it to provide Y with a specialist travel harness because of an incident when he became dysregulated when trying to access transport. The Council responded and confirmed it had contacted the operator to ask about the harness, and it would order it as soon as possible.
13. Miss X emailed the Council at the end of August. She said she had not heard anything the transport arrangements for Y. The Council responded on the same day and provided Miss X with the name of the operator and its contact details.
14. Miss X emailed the Council the following day. She said she had contacted the operator who had no awareness of Y’s needs. The operator also told her it could not provide Y with a passenger assistant. She said Y would miss the start of term until she had received confirmation of suitable arrangements for him.
15. Miss X raised a formal complaint to the Council two days later. She said it had failed to provide Y with suitable home to school transport. She also said it had failed to communicate with her about Y’s transport arrangements.
16. Miss X contacted the Council again at the beginning of September. She said the operator had refused to take Y to school because it had not received all the information about his needs. She said the operator could not provide a passenger assistant or a specialist harness.
17. Miss X completed an appeal form on 10 September and explained why Y need a specialist harness and a passenger assistant. The Council responded two days later and confirmed it would provide Y with a passenger assistant.
18. The Council responded to Miss X’s complaint in mid-September. It accepted there was a delay with it sending the appropriate harness to the operator, but this had now been resolved. It also said parents need to apply for a passenger assistant. It had agreed to provide Y with a passenger assistant once it received her request. It apologised for its communication with her and for the stress and inconvenience it caused.
19. Miss X referred her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure. She said she had asked for a passenger assistant in May. She also said Y had missed weeks of education.
20. Miss X emailed the Council the following day. She said the operator had agreed to start transporting Y to and from school from 22 September so he would have a consistent driver and passenger assistant.
21. The Council issued its final response to Miss X’s complaint. It said its communication was not as effective as it should have been, and there were missed internal opportunities to resolve the issues. It apologised for the delay in providing Y with appropriate transport.

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Analysis

22. Miss X asked the Council for a passenger assistant for Y in May and for a specialist harness for him in June. Therefore, the Council had ample time before the start of the new term in September to assess what would be suitable transport for Y. The Council’s delay in doing so was fault.
23. The Council told Miss X when it responded to her complaint that parents need to apply for a passenger assistant. As I have explained above, Miss X asked for this in May. The Council did not say it was refusing this request when it agreed to provide Y with home to school transport in June. Therefore, she had a reasonable expectation the Council would provide it.
24. The Council also delayed contacting Miss X about Y’s transport arrangements. It told her in June that it would contact her about the arrangements. It failed to do so until a few days before the start of the new academic year, and this was after Miss X had contacted it for an update.
25. The Council’s faults outlined above have caused Miss X frustration and upset about Y's transport. She was also inconvenienced at having to chase for updates and she had to take on additional caring responsibilities. Y also missed three weeks of education and specialist provision. This is a significant injustice.
26. The Council accepted it was at fault when it responded to Miss X’s complaint and apologised. When it responded to my enquiries, it suggested paying £300 for Y’s missed education and £250 for Miss X’s inconvenience.
27. I welcome the Council’s attempts to resolve this matter. I recommend that it makes a payment of £450 to reflect Y’s missed education and provision and the consequential injustice to Miss X. This is in line with our guidance on remedies. I have also recommended a service improvement to prevent a recurrence of the fault.

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Action

28. By 3 August 2026 the Council has agreed to:

• Pay Miss X £450 to reflect Y’s missed education and provision and her consequential injustice.
• Issue written reminders to relevant staff to ensure they ensure they fully review the details in a transport application, including whether a passenger assistant is requested or a child needs specialist equipment. Staff should also ensure they write to parents in a timely manner about the agreed transport arrangements.

29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

30. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss X and Y a significant injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman