Leicestershire County Council (21 002 674)
Statement Not upheld School transport 04-May-2022
Summary: Ms M complains the Council refused her application for home to school transport for her son, B, because she did not list the nearest school as her first preference when applying for places. Ms M complains the Council's decision, and its policy, are unfair. There is no evidence of fault to justify further investigation by the Ombudsman. Ultimately, it would be for a Court to decide whether the Council's approach complies with legislation and government guidance. No amount of investigation by the Ombudsman is likely to lead to a different outcome.
East Sussex County Council (21 007 748)
Statement Upheld School transport 27-Apr-2022
Summary: Mrs B complains about the Council's decision not to award Child B school transport, causing him to be without transport he is entitled to. The Ombudsman does not intend to find fault with the Council for how it decided not to grant Child B transport. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for how it handled representations to the panel, and for how it communicated with Mrs B. However, the Ombudsman has found no further action is needed as the remedies and actions taken by the Council are proportionate to the fault and injustice.
Herefordshire Council (21 004 629)
Statement Upheld School transport 21-Apr-2022
Summary: Mrs X complains about the Council's decision not to provide school transport to her child, Y who has special education needs. The Council was at fault for not considering Mrs X and her family's circumstances and fettering its discretion to assist a disabled person with accessing education. Since making her complaint to us, the Council has acted to resolve the personal injustice caused to Mrs X and her child. The Council has also agreed to review its policy and remind relevant staff of its duties under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.
London Borough of Lambeth (21 010 041)
Statement Upheld School transport 20-Apr-2022
Summary: Miss X complained the Council refused to provide transport support for her sone to attend school. The Council's failure to properly advise Miss X on the availability of transport support and how to formally apply for this amounts to fault. This fault has caused Miss X an injustice.
Devon County Council (21 011 732)
Statement Upheld School transport 19-Apr-2022
Summary: Ms C complained the Council wrongly decided not to fund transport to school for her children. She said that as a result she had to walk them to school which had an adverse impact on her health. And when that was no longer possible the children were unable to attend school. There was fault by the Council which caused injustice to Ms C. The Council will make a payment to her in recognition of the fault and impact on her and her children.
East Sussex County Council (21 007 495)
Statement Not upheld School transport 18-Apr-2022
Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council's decision to refuse her son, F, post-16 home to college transport. The Council considered Mrs X's appeal and the information she provided in line with relevant guidance in making its decision and was not at fault.
Sheffield City Council (21 009 789)
Statement Upheld School transport 13-Apr-2022
Summary: Mr X complained about the outcome of his home to school transport appeal for his son, which is causing the family financial difficulty. We find the Council is at fault. The Council's appeal panel failed to consider all the evidence Mr X provided. We recommended it apologise to Mr X and offer him a fresh appeal hearing.
Leicester City Council (21 013 267)
Statement Upheld School transport 11-Apr-2022
Summary: The Council was at fault for a delay in issuing a replacement school bus pass to Mr B's daughter. It has apologised, and has agreed to make a payment of £41.80 to recognise the amount Mr B paid for school transport during the period of delay.
Bath and North East Somerset Council (21 012 022)
Statement Upheld School transport 06-Apr-2022
Summary: Mr X complained about the outcome of his home to school transport appeal for his daughter. He said the panel did not properly consider all the information he provided when it denied his request for a taxi as school transport for his daughter. Mr X further complained the Council ignored his communication about the same matter. There was fault in the Council's record keeping but this did not cause Mr X an injustice as it did not affect the outcome of the appeal.
Surrey County Council (21 011 993)
Statement Upheld School transport 31-Mar-2022
Summary: Ms X complains about the Council's decision to decline to provide home to school transport for her child. She says her child has not been able to attend school due to the lack of transport. We find fault with the Council for not properly considering whether the cost of Ms X's preferred school was incompatible with the efficient use of resources. We have made recommendations to remedy the injustice caused.