Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s home to school transport complaint as the Council has agreed to consider the losses and effect of not having home to school transport between January and June 2026. This is a a proportionate way to resolve the complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council failed to provide home to school transport between January and June 2026.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
3. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. In May 2025 the Council granted Miss X home to school transport for the academic year 2025/26. In January 2026 it told Miss X that it had made a mistake. It said it should not have granted transport and withdrew it immediately. Miss X then appealed through the Council’s internal appeals’ process. The Council agreed in June 2026 to provide transport, and it restarted.
7. If the Council had not granted home to school transport in May 2025, as it claimed in January 2026 it should have done, it is probable that Miss X would have been successful on appeal by the start of the school term in September 2025. This means she would not have had to deal with the cessation of transport between January and June 2026.

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Agreed action

8. The Council has agreed to:
• Consider Miss X’s claim for the losses she incurred and the effect on her family for having to provide home to school transport between January and June 2026.

• Provide Miss X with its decision on her claim within six weeks of the date of our decision letter.

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Final decision

9. We have upheld this complaint because we asked the Council to remedy the injustice caused by the gap in home to school transport and it has agreed to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman