Summary: Ms X complained the Council delayed providing her son, Y with travel training and school transport. We have found fault with the Council for not processing Y’s application within 10 working days. We do not consider this to have caused an injustice to Y or Ms X.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council delayed setting up her son’s SEN transport. She said her son missed out on travel training and transport between November 2020 and March 2021.

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What I have and have not investigated

2. I have investigated from the point where Ms X contacted the Council about school transport for Y. This was 20 January 2021. I have not considered information before this date as it is out of time.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered Ms X’s complaint and spoke to her about it.
7. I also considered the Council’s response to Ms X and to my enquiries.
8. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Home to school transport guidance

9. There is no statutory entitlement to travel support for 16-18 year olds attending school or college. However, the Council offers support to young people who meet the following criteria:
• They are unable to travel independently, and
• The school/college they attend is the nearest suitable setting named on the EHC Plan.
10. The Council SEN transport guidance states the Council is committed to promoting and supporting the deliver of independent travel training. This will enable more young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to gain independent travel training skills. This will help them in preparation for and during their transition into Post 16 Education and training.
11. The SEN transport form states the Council will assess applications within 10 working days. It goes on to say if it requires further information, it may take longer.
12. The guidance is specific about applicants that are under 18 and have any medical needs. It says the Council will need to send the application to the health team to ensure the transport provision meets their needs. It says, this process can take up to 8 weeks.

What happened

Transport application

13. On 20 January 2021, Ms X contacted the Council about home to school transport for her son, Y. The Council had previously discussed with Ms X that Y was a suitable candidate for Travel Training. On 28 January, the Council spoke with Ms X to confirm Y had been referred and Ms X was still keen for the Travel Training to go ahead. It was agreed that Y would require contracted transport for the interim period until he had received Travel Training.
14. The Council provided the application information to Ms X on 8 February and Ms X submitted the transport form the same day.
15. Ms X chased the Council for a decision on 25 February as the 10 day deadline expired on 22 February. At this point, the Council were made aware that Y’s college would be reopening (after national lockdown) on 9 March. Before this information, the Council had assumed Y would return to college in September and had not therefore prioritised his application.

Additional medical information

16. The Council contacted Ms X for further details of Y’s medical needs and to confirm his timetable. At this point the Council became aware that Y may require specialist transport. The Council referred Y’s application to the health team on 26 February. At this point, the 10-day turnaround was extended to 40 days (8 weeks) as specialist input was required. The Council advised Ms X there was an 8 week waiting period for referrals.
17. In early March, Ms X contacted the Council confirming that due to his medical requirements, Y would not be undertaking Travel Training. She requested immediate finalisation of Y’s transport application. The Council reminded Ms X of the 8 week period.
18. Ms X enquired about being reimbursed for the times she had taken Y to school. The Council advised it would reimburse Ms X if the transport were not arranged within the allotted timeframe.
19. A few days later, the Council confirmed that Travel Training was not suitable for Y and that he required a medically trained PA. On 19 March, the Council received confirmation that training would take place on 23 March and that transport could commence the next day. The Council explained to Ms X that as training was provided by external health professional, it was not possible to access the training any earlier.

Reimbursement request

20. Ms X asked to be reimbursed for the times she has taken Y to school while waiting for the Council to reach a decision about school transport for Y. The Council confirmed it would not offer reimbursement for these occasions as it had finalised the application within the timescale previously provided. Ms X queried this and submitted a complaint.
21. The Council explained there had been a change in procedure and it would reimburse Ms X. It provided Ms X with the information about the reimbursement process.
22. During the course of my investigation, the Council confirmed that, to date, Ms X had not submitted any reimbursement claims for the times she had taken Y to school. Ms X said it was not worth it for the few days the Council said she was entitled to.

My findings

Delay in sending out forms

23. The Council explained that it did not send the transport application forms immediately because Y was a candidate for travel training. In addition, Y’s return to college date had not been confirmed.
24. The Council said that once it was confirmed that travel training would not be suitable for Y, it should have sent the transport forms through sooner. This was a delay of 8 working days. The Council agreed to reimburse Ms X for the days she took Y to school while awaiting the Council’s response.
25. I have found fault with the Council for the short delay in sending out the relevant forms. However, given the short period of time and the offer of reimbursement, I do not consider this to have caused Ms X and Y a significant injustice.

Delay in processing application

26. The Council’s published timescale for processing transport application forms is 10 working days. The Council acknowledged that although it was uncertain of Y’s term times, it should have decided Y’s application within this timescale. Given Ms X submitted the forms on 8 February, the Council should have reached a decision by 22 February. It did not and this was fault.
27. On 26 February, when it received further information about Y’s medical needs from Ms X, the Council referred Y’s application to the health team. The Council explained that specialist referrals can take up to 8 weeks. It took 3 weeks for the Council to receive confirmation of PA training on 23 March and a start date for transport on 24 March.
28. I have found fault with the Council for not processing Y’s application in 10 days. However, once the Council received new medical information and the potential need for a medically trained PA, the deadline was extended to 8 weeks in line with the Council’s guidance.
29. The Council reached a decision, put training in place and provided suitable transport for Y, 4 weeks after receiving confirmation of Y’s college reopening date.
30. Therefore, I do not consider the Council missing the initial 10-day deadline to have caused Y or Ms X to suffer an injustice. The new medical information and subsequent referral meant the processing timescale was increased. The Council finalised Y’s transport provision within the revised timescale.

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Final decision

31. I have completed my investigation. The Council was at fault for not sending out transport forms to Ms X sooner, and for not processing Y’s application within the 10-day timescale. I do not consider this fault to have caused any injustice to Y or Ms X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman