Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council refusing to provide home to school transport. It is unlikely we would find she does not have home to school transport directly because of Council fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council should provide her child, Y with home to school transport.

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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
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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 Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Background events

5. Miss X moved to her current address in May 2025. She applied for a school place at School A to start in reception for Y in September 2025 which she understood the village children attended and received free home to school transport. The Council allocated Y a place at School A. It then automatically assessed whether Y was entitled to home to school transport. It told Miss X in June 2025 that Y was not entitled. It said this was because School A is not their nearest school, but School B was and had a place for Y.
6. The Council operates a two stage appeal procedure: a stage one review by a senior officer and a stage two appeal heard by the Council’s school transport appeals committee (a small group of elected councillors). The policy states that the committee considers the policy guidelines but may recommend departure from those guidelines in exceptional cases.
7. The Council’s stage one review rejected her appeal in July. Its stage two appeal committee considered her case in early September 2025 and also rejected her appeal.
8. Miss X says there is a free home to school transport bus which Y could use to get to School A. But if Y were to attend School B the Council would have to pay for transport purely for Y. She said if she were to walk Y to school it would take her four hours a day and she could not then work.

Relevant law and guidance

9. 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. 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’ includes children living outside the ‘statutory walking distance’ from the school (two miles for children under eight, three miles for children aged eight and above) and children living within walking distance of the school who cannot walk to school because the route is unsafe.
10. The statutory code of guidance in place at the time of Miss X’s application and appeal sets out that:
• The statutory walking distances are used to determine whether a child is eligible for free travel to school. This is not necessarily the shortest distance by road. The route may include footpaths, bridleways, other pathways and alternative entrances to the school.
• Where the schools are beyond walking distance, councils may consider it more appropriate to measure the shortest road route or the straight line distance. It should be made clear in the council’s school travel policy how the route will be measured.
• It should be clear to parents how they can find out which is their nearest school for admissions purposes and which is the nearest for school free transport purposes.
• Councils must publish their travel policy on their website and include information about their school travel policy in their composite prospectus for school admissions.

The Council’s policy

11. The Council operates catchment areas for admission to some of the schools in its area. This means those living in a certain geographical area get priority if a school is oversubscribed. Until 2024 the Council provided school transport to the catchment area school or nearest school for those living over three miles away.
12. In September 2024 the Council implemented a new Home To School Travel Policy. Under the new policy the Council only provides free transport to new applicants attending the nearest qualifying school to home. This meant certain towns and villages no longer qualified for transport to a catchment school and the nearest qualifying school may be in another council’s area.

Analysis of this complaint

13. We have considered previous complaints from parents about the Council’s change in policy. We have decided that there was fault in the way the Council communicated its change in policy in 2024/25. We also decided the Council was entitled to use the nearest walking route, to calculate the nearest school, regardless of whether it was safe to use that route.
14. In Miss X’s case she knew in advance of Y starting school in September 2025 that Y would probably not get home to school transport and there was a place available at a School B where she could get transport. Miss X’s decision to keep with School A means that any practical problems with her transport and the costs of that are not a direct result of the Council’s communication of its transport policy changes.
15. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a council’s decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes it followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, the law says we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of whether someone disagrees with the decision it made.
16. The notes of the stage two appeal committee’s deliberations show the appeal committee was satisfied the Council had applied the policy correctly. Although the notes of the committee’s deliberations are brief, they show it considered the issues Miss X raised about communication, Miss X’s view that it made practical sense for Y to be on the School A transport and the problems she envisaged form attending School B. The appeal panel decided the choice of School A was parental preference. It decided not to uphold the appeal. This is a decision it was entitled to take and it is unlikely we could find fault in it.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would find fault in the appeal panel’s decision. And any general poor communication has not directly caused the injustice Miss X alleges.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman