Summary: We will not investigate Ms M’s complaint about the consultation undertaken by the Council before the introduction of changes to its post-16 school transport policy because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating, and nothing we could add to the Council’s response.

The complaint

1. Ms M complains about the consultation undertaken by the Council before the introduction of changes to its post-16 school transport policy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Ms M complains about the consultation carried out before the introduction of changes to the Council’s policy for post-16 school transport. She made ‘freedom of information’ requests, contacted schools, and submitted a detailed complaint to the Council. The Council responded at both stages of its complaints procedure.
6. Unhappy with the outcome, Ms M complained to us. She explained that although she has not been personally affected by the changes to the policy, she has spent a considerable amount of time pursuing what she believes to be shortcomings by the Council.
7. I have carefully considered the Council’s responses to Ms M’s complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation by us. In any event, Ms M has not suffered injustice from the changes to the Council’s transport policy.
8. There is nothing we could add to the Council’s response, and no worthwhile outcome achievable.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms M’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify investigating, and nothing we could add to the Council’s response.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman