Summary: Miss X complained about transport arrangements made for her son (Y) by the Council. We found fault with the Council for its failure to carry out a risk assessment, make suitable transport arrangements and communicate with Miss X effectively. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Miss X as she had to take Y to school for six weeks after his exclusion from transport arranged by the Council. The Council has already offered reimbursement of Miss X’s travel expenses. The Council has also agreed to apologise and make a symbolic distress payment.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the transport provided to her son (Y) who has special educational needs (SEN). Y was removed from transport following an incident Miss X says should have been avoided. She complains about:
• lack of risk assessments and planning from the taxi company providing transport to Y (suitability of the vehicle and seating arrangements);
• delay in reinstating transport and no interim support;
• delay in completing mileage reimbursement offered in October 2025;
• incorrect calculation of the reimbursement based on the assessed distance rather than the actual driving route;
• failings with communication;
• lack of training and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for staff.
2. Miss X says that the failings with transport meant she had to provide transport herself which had impact on her work and finances.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this report, we 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. We 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)
4. 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).
5. 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)
6. 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

7. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. 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

Law and administrative framework

Transport for children of compulsory school age to schools and alternative providers arranged by councils

9. 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.
10. 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 January 2024, paragraphs 81, 82 and 84)
11. Health and safety law requires councils to put in place reasonable practicable control measures to protect their employees and others (including the children for whom they arrange travel) from harm. They must:
• identify hazards;
• assess the risk;
• put in place proportionate measures to eliminate the hazard or control the risk;
• record their findings; and
• regularly review and update their risk assessments. (Statutory guidance ‘Travel to school for children of compulsory school age’ of January 2024, paragraph 86)
12. Councils should decide what is reasonably practicable in each case. They may consider that an individual risk assessment is required for some children. When making decisions they should consider:
• the medical needs of the children and the likelihood of them requiring emergency medical assistance;
• children’s behaviour – including where this is related to their special educational needs or disability – and the likelihood of this causing harm to them or others while travelling;
• the safety of children while travelling on the vehicle and while boarding and alighting; and
• the safe loading and tethering of wheelchairs. (Statutory guidance ‘Travel to school for children of compulsory school age’ of January 2024, paragraphs 88-89)

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

13. 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.
14. If the usual driver is not available a different driver will be sent who will have the same level of training and have been informed of the needs of the children and young people on the vehicle.

What happened

Background

15. Y has complex special educational needs and disabilities, including severe learning difficulties and physical and neurological impairment. Miss X is a single mother for two children. She is self-employed.
16. Before September 2025 a different taxi company provided transport to Y’s school. From September 2025 the Council commissioned delivery of this service to the taxi company 24x7 (the Taxi service).
17. Y was sharing transport with a few other children with complex physical and mental health needs. Some of them had severe epilepsy and complex needs.

Transport

18. During summer holidays 2025 two members of the Taxi service staff came to meet Y and introduce themselves. They did not know the vehicle in which Y would travel and had no sitting plan. Miss X was concerned as she knew some children sharing transport with Y could have challenging behaviours. She explained the importance of appropriate seating arrangements due to the specific needs of children sharing transport.
19. On the second day of the autumn term 2025 a Personal Assistant (PA) travelling with Y and other children told the Taxi service about challenges caused by children’s behaviour on the shared transport.
20. The safeguarding team discussed rearranging seating plans to avoid passengers sitting together. The Council said if the behaviour did not improve the Taxi service should advise and the safeguarding team would consider further changes.
21. Four days after the first notification of the transport difficulties a PA sat next to a passenger who was at risk of epileptic seizures. Y was next to a passenger with the history of physical behaviours. After the incident between Y and this passenger, the Taxi service suspended Y from accessing transport.
22. Two days later Miss X complained. She said during three previous years there had been no problems with Y’s transport. Withdrawing transport from Y meant that she had to drive him to school which caused her significant hardship.
23. For the next six weeks Y had no transport offered by the Council. Miss X drove him to and from his school. She spent much time trying to contact the Taxi service but could not get through.
24. The Council decided to re-arrange transport, using more vehicles. Y’s transport was reinstated at the end of October 2025. Miss X confirmed she had no concerns about the new arrangements.
25. In its response to Miss X’s complaint in mid-October 2025 the Council offered Miss X a fuel reimbursement for the school trips she made.
26. At the beginning of November 2025 Miss X asked the Council to send her a reimbursement form. She contacted the Council a few times in December asking about the reimbursement.
27. After receiving a reimbursement form from the Council, at the beginning of January 2026 Miss X completed it and sent it back to the Council.
28. After some further correspondence between the Council and Miss X, a month later the Council confirmed that it had actioned the reimbursement. Miss X queried the sum offered by the Council. The Council explained it had calculated the mileage reimbursement based on the shortest route between Y’s home address and his school. The Council referred Miss X to its Education Transport Travel Allowance Advice which explains that:
• “fuel amounts are calculated using shortest driving distance between home addresses and schools or colleges”;
• distances are multiplied by two return trips (four trips) to calculate daily mileages;
• £0.45 per mile is paid or £0.17 in some post-16 situations”.
29. In response to my enquiries the Council explained it did not carry out any risk assessments for Y’s transport. It said the standard process involved the Council sending passengers’ individual requirements to the Taxi service. Transport was then arranged accordingly. Before starting any new arrangements the Taxi service staff would visit the family to discuss any extra needs and include them in the child’s profile on the Taxi service system.

Analysis

Transport

30. Councils are responsible for providing school and college transport to eligible children and young people. They can commission its services but retain responsibility for the delivery and quality of the service.
31. The Council failed to:
• carry out a risk assessment regarding proposed transport arrangements after Miss X and the PA told the members of the Taxi service staff of their concerns. The Council’s response to our enquiries implies that the Council does not carry out risk assessments when making transport arrangements for children. This is contrary to the parts of Statutory Guidance quoted in paragraphs 11 and 12;
• make alternative transport arrangements for Y without delay;
• communicate with Miss X effectively about the reimbursement of her travel costs. The Council offered to reimburse Miss X’s costs in mid-October 2025 and Miss X asked for a reimbursement form at the beginning of November 2025. It took a few months for the Council to complete the reimbursement which is not acceptable.
32. The Taxi service failed to:
• address Miss X’s concerns about the transport arrangements without delay;
• respond to Miss X’s communications and keep its commitments. The Taxi service failed to return Miss X’s calls and provide updates.
33. The failings identified in the paragraphs above are fault. They did not cause injustice to Y as, although he was excluded from transport arranged by the Council, Miss X was taking him to and from the school.
34. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Miss X. She had to take Y to school for six weeks and had extra expenses. She also spent much time contacting the Council and the Taxi service for updates about transport arrangements and reimbursement.
35. I did not find fault with the calculation of reimbursement offered to Miss X as it was in line with the Council’s policy.
36. The Council has already reimbursed Miss X’s costs of providing transport to Y in line with its policy. Miss X confirmed that she had no concerns Y’s transport from the end of October 2025.

Service improvement

37. The Council told us that from February 2025 the Taxi service 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.
38. In October 2025 the Taxi service 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 Taxi service.
39. Currently in other complaints about transport provided by the Taxi service we are recommending some further service improvements for the Taxi service and the Council which should address failings identified in this investigation.

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Action

40. 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 Council and the Taxi service and make the following recommendations to the Council.
41. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, we recommend the Council complete within four weeks of the final decision the following:
1. apologise to Miss X for the injustice caused to her 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 Miss X £50 to recognise the distress caused to her by the Council’s failings identified in this investigation.

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

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Decision

42. 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