The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to refuse the complainant’s application for school transport assistance because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council is at fault in refusing his application and appeal for school transport assistance for his daughter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X and his family moved home so Mr X applied for new school placements for his daughter in the area. There were no placements at the two nearest schools, but an application at a third school was successful. Mr X subsequently applied for school transport, but the Council applied its school transport policy and refused the application on the grounds that the family had moved home and so school transport arrangements were assumed by the parents.
Mr X challenged the decision and has now completed the Council’s appeal process, with the final stage being an appeal hearing before a panel. Mr X’s appeal was unsuccessful. Mr X believes the panel did not properly consider the families circumstances and have discriminated against them.
We will not investigate this complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part. The Ombudsman will not investigate a council’s decision simply because someone disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was made.
The evidence shows the Council properly applied its school transport policy in refusing Mr X’s application. Having done so, it offered him the right to appeal. At the Stage 2 appeal stage, which was held virtually, the role of the appeal panel was to consider whether the circumstances of the case were so exceptional as to justify awarding transport. The Ombudsman’s role is to decide if there was fault in the way it did so.
The evidence shows that Mr X had the opportunity to provide evidence to the panel in writing and attended the hearing virtually to make his case. It was then for the panel to decide what weight to give to the evidence before it. There is no evidence of fault in the way it did so. Without evidence of fault, it is not for the Ombudsman to criticise the decision the panel made, or intervene to substitute an alternative view. There are therefore no grounds for us to investigate Mr X’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman