Summary: Mr X complained the Council’s process for applying for a secondary school placement gave misleading information regarding the location of a school. Mr X complained the Council subsequently declined to provide home to school travel assistance for his daughter. He says the Council’s actions caused avoidable time and trouble as he is required to provide his daughter’s transport. We found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed to provide an apology and a financial remedy and reconsider Mr X’s appeal regarding home to school travel assistance.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council’s process for applying for a secondary school placement gave misleading information regarding the location of a school, and subsequently, its distance from his home. Mr X complained the Council declined to provide home to school travel assistance for his daughter as a result. He says the Council’s actions caused avoidable time and trouble as he must provide transport himself. Mr X would like the Council to provide his daughter with home to school travel assistance.

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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 suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
5. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

6. 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.
7. 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. ‘Eligible children’ include children living outside ‘statutory walking distance’ from the school (two miles for children under eight, three miles for children aged eight and above).
8. The statutory guidance recommends councils adopt the following two stage appeals process:
• Stage 1. 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. This sets 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 the case to stage two.
• Stage 2. Within 40 working days of receiving the parent’s request, an independent appeal panel considers any 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 the Ombudsman.

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

The Council’s home to school transport and travel assistance policy

9. The Council’s policy reflects the two-stage appeals process recommended by the statutory guidance. The policy states at both stages, the Council will provide a decision letter setting out:
• The decision reached
• How the review was conducted
• What factors were considered
• The rationale for the decision reached
10. The Council’s policy states that schools are said to be ‘linked’ if there is a priority given to applicants from a certain school or location. Under the Council’s former policy, the Council treated linked schools in the same way as the nearest suitable school. However, a change to the policy meant that from academic year 2024/2025, the Council no longer treats linked schools as the nearest suitable school for new applicants for transport, unless the school is actually the nearest suitable school with places available.
11. The Council’s website provides service users with the facility to search online to find a school’s contact details. The Council’s website directs service users to the government’s schools register.

The principles of good administrative practice

12. In 2018 the Ombudsman published a guidance document (updated in January 2025), setting out the standards we expect from bodies in jurisdiction “Principles of Good Administrative Practice”. This includes:
• Stating the criteria for decision making and giving reasons for decisions
• Keeping proper and appropriate records
• Explaining clearly the rationale for decisions and recording them

What happened

13. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
14. In May 2025, Mr X applied to the Council for home to school travel assistance for his daughter, Y, ahead of her transition to secondary school in September 2025. Mr X told the Council that Y would be attending School A.
15. On 22 May 2025, the Council wrote to Mr X and told him it had declined to provide travel assistance. The Council said this was because School A was not the nearest suitable school for Y, and another school, School B was closer. The Council said Mr X’s choice for Y to attend School A was parental preference. As a result, the Council said it did not have a duty to provide free transport, even if School A was beyond statutory walking distance.
16. Mr X appealed the Council’s decision in June 2025. Mr X said he considered the distances measured by the Council were incorrect as he had calculated that School A and School B were both the same distance from his home. Mr X also said Y’s sibling already attended School A and the Council had previously agreed to provide them with travel assistance.
17. Mr X emailed the Council on 18 June 2025 to provide additional information regarding his appeal. Mr X acknowledged that School B has two locations with separate addresses, one for its Lower School and one for its Upper School. Mr X said this fact was not made clear to him prior to his application for home to school travel assistance; he said clarity regarding this was required so that people could make informed decisions.
18. The Council considered Mr X’s stage one appeal and provided its decision on 19 June 2025. The Council declined to provide travel assistance, stating that Y was not attending her nearest suitable school, namely School B’s Lower School. The Council acknowledged that Y’s sibling attended School A and received travel assistance. It stated however, that the policy change for the academic year 2024/2025 meant the Council no longer treated linked schools as the nearest school for new applicants, unless they were actually the nearest school with places available. The Council said that had Mr X chosen School B as his parental preference, a place would have been available for Y.
19. On 25 July 2025, Mr X requested a stage two appeal of the Council’s decision. He said:
• School A had not notified him of the Council’s policy change
• The distances between his home and School A and between his home and School B were the same
• The Council had not worked closely enough with schools to communicate the policy change
20. Mr X’s wife, Mrs X provided additional information to the Council on 9 September 2025 in support of the stage two appeal. She said the Council’s website did not list the location of School B’s Lower School; she said this omission made it impossible for the family to know this was a closer option. Mrs X said the only address provided via the Council’s website was for School B’s Upper School, which she said was further away from their home than School A. Mrs X said the omission of School B’s Lower School address meant the family were penalised.
21. The Council’s stage two appeal took place on 10 October 2025, and on 15 October 2025, the Council provided its decision. The Council declined to provide travel assistance. It said:
• School B has two sites, a Lower and an Upper School, with a pupil’s first three years being at the Lower School. The Council said it had measured the distance from Mr X’s home to School B’s Lower School address
• The Council accepted that the distance between Mr X’s home and School A and between Mr X’s home and School B’s Upper School were the same
• When applying for a placement at School A, Mr X had used the government’s website, ‘Get Information about Schools’. The Council acknowledged the website made no reference to School B having two sites and only referenced the Upper School’s address
• The panel felt the policy had been applied correctly and Mr X would not be entitled to receive home to school transport
22. Mr X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s decision and brought the complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis – the Council’s decision making and record keeping

23. The Council stated in its stage two decision letter that the panel felt it had applied the Council’s policy correctly. I acknowledge the Council’s comments and am satisfied the Council followed the two-stage appeal process.
24. However, the policy states the Council’s decision letters should set out:
• how the panel conducted the review and the factors it considered, and
• the rationale for the decision reached.
25. The stage two decision letter does not provide an explanation of how the Council considered the points raised by Mr and Mrs X regarding their concerns about the available information relating to School B’s two locations. Neither does it provide the panel’s rationale for how it subsequently made its decision to decline travel assistance having considered these specific concerns. Instead, the letter simply states that School B is the closer school.
26. This lack of explanation in the Council’s decision letter is not in accordance with the Council's policy or the principles of good administrative practice. This is fault.
27. In addition, in its response to my enquiries, the Council says it did not retain the notes taken at the stage two panel hearing. The Council says this is because at that time, it was instructed not to keep the notes once the decision letter was issued.
28. As a result, the Council has no records to demonstrate how the panel considered the points raised by Mr X, the rationale for its decision, or how/if the panel considered the use of discretion in this case. Mr X said he was shocked to receive the Council’s decision to decline providing transport because he felt the stage two panel appeared to understand his concerns. Without reviewing the Council’s notes taken at the hearing, it is not possible to fully review the Council’s decision-making process. The failure to keep proper and appropriate records is not in accordance with the principles of good administrative practice and is fault.
29. The injustice to Mr X from the lack of explanation in the Council’s decision letter and the lack of available records to demonstrate the Council’s decision-making process is the uncertainty as to how the Council considered his concerns.

Information provided to Mr X by the Council

30. I am unable to find fault that the Council’s process for applying for a secondary school placement gave misleading information regarding the location of School B.
31. The Council provided a link to the government’s website, ‘Get Information about Schools’. I acknowledge the government’s website only provides the address of School B’s Upper School. However, this address was not directly provided by the Council. Although the Council provided a link to the government website, I cannot criticise the Council for information managed and provided by an external information source.
32. I note that School B’s own website states it has a Lower and an Upper School and that the website provides the addresses of both locations.
33. I acknowledge Mr X’s explanation that he found the information provided to him was misleading, and that the link to the government website was provided by the Council. This matter formed part of Mr X’s stage two appeal. I would therefore expect the Council to have considered this as part of the stage two hearing.
34. Whilst I am unable to find fault that the Council’s process provided misleading information, as previously stated, the Council is at fault as a result of the lack of explanation in the Council’s decision letter and the lack of available records from the stage two hearing.
35. The Council says that as a result of a separate Ombudsman’s decision, it has changed its process so that it now retains the notes taken at stage two panel hearings. As part of that Ombudsman’s decision, the Council agreed to review its arrangements for recording and retaining home to school transport appeal hearing records. This included setting out an action plan to ensure it maintains adequate, consistent records of appeal panel proceedings and decisions. As the Council has already agreed to this service improvement, I have not repeated this as a recommendation in this case.

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Action

36. To address the injustice identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an apology to Mr X. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings;
2. Make a symbolic payment of £100 to Mr X in recognition of the uncertainty caused, and
3. Reconsider Mr X’s home to school travel assistance appeal. Following the appeal, the Council will provide a full explanation to Mr X of the factors it considered and how it made its decision.
37. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

38. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed to take the above action to remedy the injustice and I have therefore concluded my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman