Summary: We found fault in the way the taxi service commissioned by the Council provided school transport to Mrs X’s children. We also found fault in the Council’s response to a safeguarding issue raised by Mrs X. The Council’s fault caused injustice to Mrs X‘s children as they found frequent changes to transport arrangements distressing. It also caused injustice to Mrs X as she had to drive her children to school herself which affected her work and wellbeing. The Council has agreed to apologise, reimburse the cost of her school journeys, discuss with Mrs X her children’s transport needs and make the symbolic payment to recognise Mrs X’s distress. The Council should also ensure drivers providing school transport from its commissioned taxi company 24x7 receive proper safeguarding training.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the transport provided to her children by the taxi company 24x7 (the Taxi service). She says there was a high turnover of drivers, some of them were not aware of the route and could not find her home address. The transport was unreliable with some drivers turning up late or not coming at all. On one occasion Mrs X’ daughter was left in the care unsupervised with an unknown adult. Mrs X considers the Council discriminated against her when making transport arrangements.
2. Mrs X says that the Council's failings to ensure suitable transport for her children meant her daughter became very anxious about using taxis. She says that she had to provide school transport for her children which had negative financial consequences and affected her work and family life. Mrs X also spent much time communicating with the Council and the Taxi service and felt frustrated by the lack of meaningful investigation and resolution.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
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. We cannot decide if an organisation has breached the Equality Act as this can only be done by the courts. But we can make decisions about whether or not an organisation has properly taken account of an individual’s rights in its treatment of them. 
6. Organisations will often be able to show they have properly taken account of the Equality Act if they have considered the impact their decisions will have on the individuals affected and these decisions can be challenged, reviewed or appealed.
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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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
10. Mrs 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

11. 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.
12. 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)
13. 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)
14. It is for councils to decide how they will arrange free travel for an eligible child. The arrangements must be free of charge to the parent. The legislation permits councils to meet their duty in respect of an eligible child in a range of alternative ways, provided they have the consent of the parent. With the agreement of a parent the council might provide expenses to enable the parent to make their own travel arrangements for their child. (Statutory guidance ‘Travel to school for children of compulsory school age’ of May 2026, paragraph 68 and 69)
15. 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 May 2026, paragraph 87)

Equality Act

16. A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and this impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. (Section 6(1))
17. The Equality Act 2010 requires local authorities to comply with the public sector equality duty. This means they must consider how their school travel decisions and policies affect people with protected characteristics, and must have regard to the need to:
• eliminate discrimination against people with protected characteristics;
• promote equality of opportunity between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not; and
• foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
18. Having due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity involves having due regard to the need to:
• remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by persons who share a relevant protected characteristic;
• take steps to meet the needs of persons who share a relevant protected characteristic that are different from the needs of persons who do not share it.

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

19. 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.
20. 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

21. The Council commissioned the Taxi service to provide transport to Mrs X’s two children Y and Z who were six and four respectively in September 2025. The children attended the same school. For Y 2025/2026 was the third year of receiving transport services from the Taxi service. Both children are awaiting assessments for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Z has hearing and speech difficulties.
22. At the end of the summer holidays a new driver (Driver 1) from the Taxi service met Mrs X and her children. The Taxi service recorded the children’s ages, address and Mrs X’s contact details.
23. On the first day of school Driver 1 arrived with an adult male passenger in the vehicle. In response to Mrs X’s enquiry Driver 1 explained it was her son.
24. Two days later Mrs X contacted the Council. She said that after the first three trips with Driver 1 transport for Y was provided by unfamiliar drivers. Y had no notice of the changes which caused her distress. On the second day of term when unfamiliar driver arrived at the school to collect Y she became visibly upset and cried. The following morning a different male driver came to Mrs X’s address, parked briefly and drove off. Mrs X said that in the past she had also experienced unreliability of the Taxi service. She asked the Council to find an alternative company to provide transport to Y.
25. Four days later Mrs X contacted the Council again with her concerns about the Taxi service failures. She decided to discontinue using the Taxi service and said she would make alternative arrangements. She asked the Council to reimburse her petrol expenses. Mrs X said she had received no information about the Driver 1’s son who was present in the taxi on the first day of Y’s school. She did not know whether he had safeguarding checks to accompany children. Mrs X said Driver 1 had entered the school office leaving Y in the car with this unknown man. The following afternoon an unfamiliar driver (Driver 2) picked Y up from the school. He could not speak very good English and needed help from the school to locate Mrs X’s address. The following morning Driver 2 could not find Mrs X’s house which meant Mrs X had to take Y to school herself and was late to work. The following day another unfamiliar driver came to collect both children.
26. The Council told Mrs X it had made the Taxi service aware of the issues raised. The Taxi service confirmed it was trying to maintain continuity of drivers and passenger assistants, particularly when providing transport to special educational needs (SEN) schools but some changes were unavoidable. The Taxi service provided reassurance that all taxi drivers had safeguarding checks and passenger assistants were recruited following rigorous standards including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
27. Mrs X was dissatisfied with the Council’s response. It included, she said, irrelevant information such as references to SEN schools or personal assistants but did not address the safeguarding matter raised by Mrs X. Mrs X reiterated she had stopped using the Taxi service and made alternative arrangements. She requested reimbursement of costs incurred due to the Council’s failure to provide safe and consistent transport service.
28. At the end of September 2025 Mrs X contacted the Council again. Despite repeated attempts, she said, she had not received a meaningful response or suggestion of resolution from the Council or the Taxi service. As a result she continued to drive her children to and from the school which impacted her work and finances. The Council’s transport failures also affected Z’s school integration.
29. Mrs X rejected the Council’s offer of the petrol costs reimbursement of 45 pence per mile as she was not happy to provide her own transport to the children’s school. She wanted the Council to arrange suitable transport for them.
30. At the beginning of October 2025 the Council upheld Mrs X’s complaint. It said the presence of an unknown person during Y’s journey to school was unacceptable and the Council was investigating it as a safeguarding incident. The Taxi service provided assurance it would make every effort to advise parents by email of any changes in transport arrangements. The Council said it would keep monitoring the Taxi service performance and if no improvements were made it would take proper action. The Council offered a reimbursement of 45 pence per mile for two journeys in the morning and two in the afternoon for each day Mrs X drove her children to and from their school.
31. Mrs X did not accept the Council’s response and asked for her complaint to be considered further. She sent further correspondence to the Council in October and at the beginning of November 2025.
32. In the first week of November the Council provided its final response to Mrs X’s complaint. The Council repeated its offer to Mrs X of a reimbursement of 45 pence per mile. After investigating Mrs X’s safeguarding concerns the Council decided there was no need for further action.
33. Mrs X continued asking the Council for alternative transport arrangements.

Analysis

Transport

34. Any transport arrangements made for eligible children must be suitable and ensure that children arrive at school without undue stress.
35. At the beginning of September 2025 Mrs X told the Council about Y’s difficulties with transport provided by the Taxi service. She raised the issue of unfamiliar drivers and their incompetence. She emphasised the impact of changes in transport arrangements on Y.
36. The Taxi service failed to explore Y’s difficulties and decide on the best way to mitigate them. It also failed to update its records to ensure Y’s and Z’s needs relevant to transport arrangements were up to date and available to all drivers.
37. The Council failed to check if the Taxi service addressed Mrs X’s concerns. The Council’s responses, including its response to Mrs X complaint, were vague. The Council offered a reimbursement for Mrs X’s petrol expenses and seemed to have accepted that she would be providing transport for her children. This was unacceptable as Mrs X’s continuing correspondence made it clear that she was not happy with driving her children to and from their school. As pointed out in paragraph 14 any alternative arrangements to councils providing transport need parental consent. Mrs X was not happy to take over the responsibility for providing transport even if the Council was offering mileage reimbursement.
38. It is for the Council to decide how it will provide transport to eligible children of compulsory school age. The Council must, however, ensure its arrangements for school transport meet legal requirements for this type of service.
39. The Taxi service’s and the Council’s failures specified in paragraphs 36 and 37 are fault. They caused injustice to Y and Z as the unsatisfactory transport arrangements meant that the beginning of the new school year was more difficult for them that it would have been otherwise. They also caused injustice to Mrs X. She found it difficult to combine work with driving the children to and from their school. This situation lasted until the end of the school year 2025/2026. Mrs X spent much time communicating with the Council and explaining her difficulties as well as asking for a resolution.
40. The Council’s offer of a mileage reimbursement is in line with the Council’s policy on education transport travel allowance. It is appropriate as a remedy but the Council should also explore how it can secure suitable transport for Y and Z.

Safeguarding

41. Safeguarding duties of organisations providing services to children on behalf of councils, such as the Taxi service, are explained in paragraph 15 and the statutory guidance 'Working Together to Safeguard Children’. The legislation regulates what is required from people who work with children or have contact with them professionally.
42. In response to Mrs X’s notification of an unfamiliar male passenger travelling in the taxi taking Y to school, the Council accepted it as a safeguarding incident. The Council admitted this situation should not have happened. After investigation it decided to close the case. It failed, however, to explain to Mrs X any details of the investigation or steps undertaken as a result.
43. The Council’s failure to explain to Mrs X what happened and tell her of the steps undertaken to prevent such situations happening again is fault. It caused injustice to Mrs X as she was left without any resolution and confused about the Council’s position.

Equality Act

44. Mrs X said the Council discriminated against her and her children when providing transport services. She explained that she had not explicitly told the Council about her and her children health conditions and diagnoses but the Council should have recognised their disability related needs.
45. I do not consider the Taxi service and the Council discriminated against Mrs X and her children in the way they provided transport services to them. This is because there is no evidence the Council had any reasons to treat Mrs X and her children as disabled as understood by the Equality Act. Besides we are aware of the wider problems with the quality of school transport delivered by the Taxi service, so the failings identified in this investigation are more general.

Service improvement

46. The Council told us that from February 2025 the Taxi service had introduced a Performance Improvement Plan. The Council held monthly 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.
47. 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 monthly monitoring meetings with the Taxi service.
48. Currently in other complaints about transport provided by the Taxi service we are recommending some further service improvements which should address 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

49. 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 Taxi service and make the following recommendations to the Council.
50. 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 Mrs 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 Mrs X mileage allowance for any mornings and/ or afternoons she provided transport to Y and Z to and from their school in the school year 2025/2026. This reimbursement should be for the full distance driven by Mrs X to and from their home on each trip;
3. hold a meeting or a telephone call with Mrs X to discuss Y’s and Z’s specific needs relevant to any transport arrangements and the way the service arranged by the Council can respond to them. Participants of this meeting/telephone call should also discuss whether the taxi company 24x7 can deliver suitable transport services to Y and Z and if so whether any amendments should be made to their records held for Y and Z. The Council will send us a written summary of the meeting or telephone call to Mrs X and share a copy with the Ombudsman;
4. pay Mrs X £100 to recognise the distress caused to her by the Council’s failings identified in this investigation in relation to her two children.

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

51. We also recommend the Council within three months of the final decision seek confirmation from the taxi company 24x7 that all drivers and personal assistants involved in children’s transport to educational placements have a required level of English competency and understand their safeguarding duties. The Council will provide us with the relevant evidence.

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Decision

52. 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