Summary: We found fault with the Council’s failure to arrange school transport for Ms X’s daughter (Y) from the beginning of September 2025 and with the way it dealt with Ms X’s complaints. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Y and Ms X. The Council has agreed to apologise, reimburse the cost of Y’s school journeys from September 2025 and respond to Ms X’s safeguarding concern. The Council has also agreed to make symbolic payments to recognise Ms X’s distress and the time spent complaining.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained about school transport for her daughter (Y). She said in September 2025 the Council failed to arrange transport to Y’s school despite its agreement to do so. She also said the Council had failed to investigate or respond to her previous complaints about transport.

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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 recommend a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. Where an individual, organisation or private company is providing services on behalf of a council, we can investigate complaints about the actions of these providers. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(1)(A) and 25(7), as amended).
6. When considering complaints we make findings based on the balance of probabilities. This means that we look at the available relevant evidence and decide what was more likely to have happened.
7. 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)
8. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this report with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I have and have not investigated

9. I have not investigated the Council’s and the transport provider’s refusal to use an alternative address (address B) for dropping Y off after school and picking her up to take her to school once a week. Although this issue was first raised in July and then raised again in later October 2025, it was not part of Ms X’s complaint filed in September. As pointed out in paragraph three of this decision we can only investigate matters which the Council has already had an opportunity to consider and respond to. If Ms X is concerned about this particular issue with Y’s transport, she would need to raise it with the Council first.
10. I have not investigated any events which happened before October 2024. This is because Ms X came to us in October 2025 and, as explained in paragraph four we normally investigate events which happened within 12 months from when the complainant came to us.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
12. Ms 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

Law and administrative framework

Transport for children of compulsory school age

13. Local authorities must make suitable home to school travel arrangements as they consider necessary for ‘eligible children’ of compulsory school age to attend the ‘relevant educational establishment in relation to them’. This is either the ‘qualifying school’ at which the child is registered or the place, other than a school, where the child is receiving education by virtue of arrangements made under the Education Act 1996, section 19(1). The travel arrangements must be made and provided free of charge.
14. Councils must ensure that the travel arrangements they make take account of the needs of the child concerned. The arrangements should enable the child to travel in reasonable safety and comfort, and without undue stress, strain or difficulty, so that wherever possible they arrive at school ready to learn. Some children may need particular arrangements to be made to meet their needs. (Statutory guidance ‘Travel to school for children of compulsory school age’ of May 2026, paragraphs 82, 83 and 85)
15. A child’s needs may need to be reassessed from time to time, for example if their level of need changes or if they move to a new school. Some children with special educational needs can find change distressing. Councils should provide parents with as much notice as possible of any changes to a child’s travel arrangements (Statutory guidance ‘Travel to school for children of compulsory school age’ of May 2026, paragraph 86)

The Council’s guide to SEND transport for parents and carers

16. This says that all drivers will:
• be aware of the protocols for safeguarding children and emergency procedures;
• have been briefed on the needs of children they will be transporting.

What happened

Background

17. Y is of compulsory school age and has been receiving school transport for many years. The Council commissioned provision of Y’s school transport from the transport company 24x7 (the Transport company).
18. Y changed schools in September 2025.

Transport

19. At the beginning of July 2025 Ms X contacted the Council and the Transport company. She was concerned about suspending Y’s transport. Ms X clarified her address (address A) and advised that due to contact arrangements Y needed to be taken to a different address (address B) once a week. The following morning she would also need to be collected from the address B.
20. In mid-July the Council told Ms X that it would normally arrange transport for eligible children from the main home address. Arranging transport to and from an additional address would be at the provider’s discretion and would need to be arranged directly with them.
21. At the end of August Ms X asked the Council for details of the transport arrangements for Y. She was concerned about the lack of contact as Y was starting her new school within a week.
22. The Council told Ms X that, as it had not received an application for Y’s transport, she needed to apply. On the following day the Council accepted Y’s eligibility for transport.
23. Two days later Ms X asked the Council when the arrangements for Y’s transport would be made. She had to provide transport herself and found it hard. The transport team responded the arrangements should be made within 15 working days from the date of approving transport application.
24. The Transport company started taking Y to her school and bringing her back from the end of September 2025.
25. Ms X contacted the Transport company on the first day with some serious concerns about competency of a driver and a personal assistant (PA). Neither of them could secure Y’s wheelchair in the car for the duration of the journey. They picked Y up too late to make it for the beginning of the school day. The following day Ms X passed on this correspondence to the Council.
26. Ms X told us the Transport company and the Council had failed to address her concerns about the incompetency of the Transport company’s staff. The same driver and PA continued delivering transport for Y up to Easter 2026. Ms X said the driver could not safely drive the car and would regularly turn up late.

Complaint

27. Ms X complained to the Council in mid-September 2025. She said the Council first missed her online transport application and then, after approving it at the beginning of September, delayed making arrangements. Despite calling the Transport company several times each day, she was not getting promised calls from a manager. She said the Transport company had failed to respond to her previous complaints, including the one about a safeguarding incident.
28. Three days later Ms X chased the Council’s response to her complaint and asked for a form to claim travel expenses.
29. After Ms X’s correspondence referred to in paragraph 27 the Council said it was reviewing all complaints and addressing any performance issues with the Transport company. The Council stated: “Performance will continue to be monitored and, if identified improvements do not materialise, the Council will take the appropriate action as allowed for in our contract terms.”
30. In response Ms X told the Council that despite its assurances of monitoring, she had seen no improvements in the Transport company services. She raised safeguarding issues and disabled children’s access to education.
31. In the first week of October 2025 the Council upheld Ms X’s complaint. The wording of the Council’s response was very similar to the response provided three days earlier. The Council also provided Ms X with an email address to discuss fuel reimbursement.

Analysis

32. In paragraph 13 of this decision I refer to the councils’ duty to make suitable school transport arrangements for eligible children. Y was eligible so the Council should have secured transport for her from September 2025.
33. Ms X said she had submitted an online transport application early in the summer of 2025. Although the Council could not find it, I consider it is more likely that not that it had happened. This is because Ms X knew the process of applying for transport as she had completed it in previous years. Besides she clearly expected the arrangements to be put in place in August 2025. By the end of August she was getting anxious that she had not heard from the Council with details of the arrangements.
34. The Council’s failure to arrange transport for Y from the beginning of September 2025 is fault. It caused injustice to Ms X as she had to provide this transport herself. As a single mother with other children she struggled to reconcile this extra duty with other family and work commitments.
35. Any transport arrangements made for eligible children must be suitable and ensure that children arrive at school without undue stress.
36. At the end of September 2025 Ms X shared with the Transport company and the Council her concerns about the ability of the staff assigned for Y’s transport to drive her safely and meet her needs during the school journeys. She also raised the previous safeguarding incident which remained unaddressed.
37. The Transport company failed to explore Ms X’s concerns and decide on the best way to address them.
38. The Council failed to check if the Transport company addressed Ms X’s concerns, including the safeguarding incident previously reported. The Council’s responses to Ms X’s complaints were vague. Despite upholding Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to offer meaningful remedies.
39. The Transport company’s and the Council’s failures in responding to Ms X’s complaints are fault. They caused injustice to Y as the continuing unsatisfactory transport arrangements meant disruption to her education. They also caused injustice to Ms X. She spent much time communicating with the Transport company and the Council and explaining her difficulties as well as asking for a resolution. She was increasingly frustrated by the lack of meaningful action from the Transport company and the lack of the Council’s oversight. For many months she remained uncertain about Y’s safety during the school journeys, as the Transport company and the Council had failed to resolve her safeguarding query.

Service improvement

40. The Council told us that from February 2025 the Transport company had introduced a Performance Improvement Plan. The Council held weekly meetings to monitor the effectiveness of the plan, which aimed to address:
• staff shortages and sickness;
• internal and external communication; and
• inefficiency of the process.
41. In October 2025 the Transport company reviewed its original Performance Improvement Plan. Although some improvement had been achieved in the last months of the school year 2024/2025, the number of complaints received from the beginning of the new school year in September 2025 showed there were still significant problems. The Council has been continuing weekly monitoring meetings with the Transport company.
42. Currently in other complaints about transport provided by the Transport company we are recommending some further service improvements which should address some failings identified in this investigation. We are also recommending improvements in the way the Council responds to complaints about transport to educational placements.

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Action

43. When a council commissions or arranges for another organisation to provide services, we treat actions taken by or on behalf of that organisation as actions taken on behalf of the council and in the exercise of the council’s functions. Where we find fault with the actions of the service provider, we can make recommendations to the council alone. Here we have found fault with the Transport company and make the following recommendations to the Council.
44. To remedy the injustice identified in this decision we recommend the Council should within four weeks from the date of the final decision:
1. apologise to Ms X and Y for the injustice caused to them by the faults identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making the apology we have recommended;
2. pay Ms X mileage allowance for any mornings and/ or afternoons she provided transport to Y to and from her school in September 2025. This reimbursement should be for the full distance driven by Ms X to and from her home on each trip;
3. respond in writing to Ms X’s safeguarding concern about the particular driver’s behaviour towards Y, which was left unanswered. The Council will send us this response;
4. pay Ms X £50 to recognise the distress caused to her by the Council’s failings identified in this investigation;
5. pay Ms X £50 to recognise her time and trouble when contacting the Transport company and the Council about her complaints.

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

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Decision

45. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendations, so this investigation is at an end.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman