The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council considered the complainants application for home to school transport for her child. The complaint does not meet the tests set out in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate.
There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
The complaint
The complainant I shall call Miss X complains the Council has refused to provide free school transport for her child, whom shall call Y, despite being eligible.
Miss X says she cannot take Y to school because of own medical conditions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Relevant Law Local authorities have a duty to provide free home to school transport for pupils of compulsory school age (5 to 16) in certain circumstances (s508B and Schedule 35B of the Education Act 1996).
Local authorities must make ‘suitable travel arrangements’, ‘as they consider necessary’, for ‘eligible children’ to attend their ‘qualifying school’. This transport must be 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’ are defined in Schedule 35B of the Act as: children living outside ‘statutory walking distance’ from the school (two miles for children under eight, three miles for children between eight and 16) children living within walking distance of the school but who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their special educational needs, disability, or mobility problem children living within walking distance of the school but who cannot reasonably be expected to walk to school because the route is deemed unsafe to walk children entitled to free school meals, or whose parents are in receipt of their maximum level of working tax credit if: the nearest suitable school is beyond two miles (for children over eight and under 11); the school is between two and six miles (aged 11-16 and for transport to one of their three nearest qualifying schools); or the school is between two and fifteen miles and is the nearest school preferred on grounds of religion or belief.
Local authorities also have discretion to provide transport for children who are not entitled to free transport.
Paragraph 22 of the Home to School Travel and Transport statutory guidance states ‘the measurement of the statutory walking distances is not necessarily the shortest distance by road. It is measured by the shortest route, along which a child, accompanied as necessary, may walk safely. As such the route measured may include footpaths, bridleways, and other pathways as well as recognised roads’.
Paragraph 24 states ‘at the point when transport eligibility is considered, the prospect of being able to secure a place in an alternative (usually nearer) school must be a real one. For most cases this will be during the normal school admissions round when places are allocated. A smaller number of cases will need to be considered during the course of the school year e.g., as a result of families moving to a new area’.
The Council’s Policy sets out discretionary arrangements: Each application will be considered on its own merits and might include circumstances such as (non-exhaustive): temporary medical need circumstances where a child is provided with an “exceptional placement” at a special school on a temporary basis pre-school pupils with an EHCP attending the nearest qualifying special school children needing transport to and from respite at the beginning and end of the school day.
What happened Miss X applied for school transport for Y, as she has medical problems which she says prevents her from taking Y to school.
The Council refused her application because: the school is less than a mile from the school; and Miss X had not provided enough evidence that Y gets free school meals.
Miss X appealed.
The clerk’s notes from the appeal panel show the panel considered the following: The school where Y has a place is her mother’s choice. It is not the nearest suitable school as the is another closer school.
Y has no specific needs affecting her mobility.
Y has 83.5% attendance. Miss X receives help from friends .
The Council decided there are no exceptional circumstances to award school transport for Y. Having followed the correct procedure, this is a decision it is entitled to make.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman