East Sussex County Council (25 015 604)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about home to school transport issues. We have upheld Ms X’s complaint as the Council has now agreed to reply to her complaint which is a proportionate way to resolve the complaint.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains the Council failed to reply to her complaint about home to school transport issues.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X says the Council failed to reply to her complaint about home to school transport issues. She says evidence given at a court hearing in 2025 showed that she had not been properly informed about events, the Council’s actions and her child’s behaviour leading up to an incident the subject of the court hearing. This includes the use of a restraint technique which she says she had not consented to and did not know they were using.
- If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice because the Council has failed to reply to this part of her complaint.
Agreed action
- The Council has agreed to:
- investigate and reply to her complaint about aspects which are about events outside the court room.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because we asked the Council to remedy the injustice caused by not replying to her complaints and it has agreed a proportionate remedy for Mrs X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman