Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse free school transport. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in how it reached its decision.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says that the Council did not consider her exceptional personal circumstances when refusing the application for free school transport for her child. She says this impacted her emotionally, financially and mentally.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We consider 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. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X said that the Council did not take proper account of her exceptional personal circumstances when refusing her application and appeal for free school transport for her child. She used her right to appeal against the Council’s decision.
7. The Council has used a two-stage appeal process as set out in statutory guidance. This included an in-person appeal hearing at Stage 2. Mrs X had the opportunity to discuss her personal circumstances in the hearing. Mrs X also detailed her circumstances in both her Stage 1 and Stage 2 appeal requests.
8. The Council referenced the circumstances the appeal panel considered in reaching the decision in its Stage 2 outcome. The evidence therefore shows that the panel was aware of Mrs X’s case when it made its decision. The weight the panel members gave to her case was a matter for their professional judgement. It is not for the Ombudsman to take a view on whether Mrs X’s child should have been awarded free transport. That is for the appeal panel. There is not enough evidence of fault in how it reached its decision to refuse free school transport for Mrs X’s child to warrant our intervention.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman