Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council charging contributions for a discretionary school transport agreement. This is because there is not evidence of injustice to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that the Council has charged them for school transport, despite telling them they would not need to contribute. Mr X says this was a mistake by the Council which has caused them a financial and emotional burden.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We consider complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. Our role is to consider complaints where the person bringing the complaint has suffered significant personal injustice as a direct result of the actions or inactions of the organisation. This means we will normally only investigate a complaint where the complainant has suffered serious loss, harm, or distress as a direct result of faults or failures. We will not normally investigate a complaint where the alleged loss or injustice is not a serious or significant matter.

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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. Mr X disputes that he is responsible for paying a contribution towards the cost of travel for his child, for a certain amount of time. He says he was told by the Council that he was not expected to contribute towards the period in question. However, there does not appear to be evidence of this.
7. The Council says the need for financial contribution is clear in its school transport policy. The policy notes that charges are applied where transport is provided as an exception to the policy. The transport arrangement for Mr X’s child is an exception to the policy, and this is not contested.
8. The Council has provided documents that appear to show Mr X’s wife signed an agreement which detailed both the need for financial contribution and the related costs. This document states that the need for financial contributions has been in place since February 2018. This was signed before the exception was agreed.
9. The Council also provided evidence of an email that includes the same details about the need for financial contributions. This was also sent before the exceptional travel arrangement began.
10. Given that the family were forewarned about the need for financial contributions, along with the associated fees, there does not appear to be enough injustice for us to pursue this matter.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of injustice to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman