Summary: Miss X says the Council’s school transport appeal decision for her daughter, Y, was unfair because Miss X could not attend the appeal hearing. She says this distressed her and her family and stopped Y getting school transport. The Council was not at fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council’s stage two school transport appeal decision for her daughter, Y, was unfair because Miss X was not at the appeal hearing. Miss X says this distressed her and her family and stopped Y getting suitable school transport.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. We cannot question whether a Council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read Miss X’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
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 the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background information

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.
8. Councils should have an appeals process in place for parents who wish to appeal about the eligibility of their child for travel support.
9. 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)

10. The statutory guidance says the Council should enable a parent to attend an appeal hearing. Where a parent does not wish or cannot attend a hearing, the panel should make its decision based on the parent’s written representations.

(Department of Education, Travel to school for children of compulsory school age statutory guidance 2023, Part 5)

11. The Council’s home to school travel policy follows the statutory guidance on appeals and says it will issue formal notification of an appeal decision within five working days.

What happened

12. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
13. Miss X’s daughter, Y, attends school.
14. In April 2025 Miss X applied to the Council for transport for Y to her new school from September 2025.
15. In May 2025 the Council refused Miss X’s application. One week later, Miss X appealed to the Council against its decision.
16. At the beginning of July 2025 the Council’s stage one appeal upheld its decision to refuse school transport. One week later Miss X sent a stage two appeal to the Council with her written representations and supporting documents.
17. In August 2025 the Council told Miss X the appeal hearing would take place in September 2025. The Council invited Miss X to put forward any more supporting information and asked her to confirm if someone would be representing her at the hearing.
18. In September 2025, on the day of the appeal hearing Miss X told the Council she could not attend due to childcare needs. The appeal hearing went ahead and considered Miss X’s written representations and supporting documents. The appeal panel refused Miss X’s appeal. One week later the Council wrote to Miss X with the appeal decision and reasons for it.
19. Miss X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. She wants the Council to hold the appeal hearing again so she can attend.
20. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had no record of Miss X asking for a postponement of the appeal hearing.

My findings

21. Paragraph 10 says the Council should enable a parent to attend the stage two appeal hearing. In August 2025 the Council gave Miss X one month’s notice of the appeal hearing date. The appeal hearing was open to Miss X to attend and the Council gave her enough notice of the hearing date.
22. Paragraph 9 says the appeal panel should consider written and verbal representations. Paragraph 10 says the panel’s decision should be based on the parent’s written representations if the parent cannot attend. The appeal hearing was open to Miss X to attend. On the day of the hearing Miss X told the Council she was not attending. I have seen no evidence Miss X told the Council before then she could not attend. The appeal panel was entitled to go ahead and decide the appeal based on Miss X’s written representations if she could not attend. The Council was not at fault.
23. I have seen no evidence Miss X asked the Council to postpone the appeal hearing. If she had asked for a postponement the Council did not have to agree. The Council could still have gone ahead with the appeal based on Miss X’s written representations.

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Decision

24. I have completed my investigation. The Council was not at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman