The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Mrs E complained the Council failed to exercise discretion and provide home to school transport for her daughter and other pupils who do not qualify under its policy. We find no fault in the Council’s decision making.
The complaint
Mrs E complained the Council failed to exercise discretion and provide home to school transport for her daughter (F) and other pupils who do not qualify under its policy. She says there are no other transport options in the area which means she spends hours taking her daughter and other children to and from school. She adds she has had to give up work to transport her daughter and it is having a huge impact on the environment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mrs E. I made enquiries of the Council and considered information it sent in response.
Mrs E and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
Home to school transport Councils must make arrangements to provide suitable free school transport to “eligible” children of statutory school age including those who: Attend their nearest suitable school and live further than the statutory walking distance. This is two miles for children aged less than eight years old and three miles for children eight and above.
Are from a low-income family, defined as receiving free school meals or in receipt of the maximum Working Tax Credit. These children are entitled to free school transport if their nearest suitable school is between two and six miles away if they are aged eight to eleven. (Education Act 1996 section 508B and Schedule 35B) The Council’s policy says where a child does not attend their nearest suitable school, parents should be aware that it may not have an obligation to provide home to school transport. Evidence illustrating that the nearest suitable school was not available or appropriate will need to be provided with any application for home to school transport. If a child is allocated a place at a school that is not the nearest suitable school because of parental preference, travel assistance will not be provided.
The Council operates a vacant seat payment scheme where vacant spaces on transport services are offered or subsidised for pupils who are not eligible for travel assistance.
What happened Mrs E applied for a secondary school place for F. Her preference was School Y. School Y is not the nearest secondary school to Mrs E’s house, but it is located within the Council’s area.
The Council awarded F a place at School Y.
Mrs E applied to the Council for home to school transport for F.
The Council contacted Mrs E and said it would not award her home to school transport because F was not going to be attending the nearest suitable school.
Mrs E appealed and said the nearest school to her house comes under a different council. She said she wanted her daughter to attend School Y as it within the Council’s area.
The Council wrote to Mrs E and said there was no evidence she applied to nearer schools to her house. It said if she could provide supporting information why F was not attending the nearest suitable school, it would consider it further. It also told her to apply for the vacant seat payment scheme.
Mrs E contacted the Council and said she chose School Y as it is the nearest school to her house within the Council’s area. She said at the time of applying, there was a minibus that transported the children that live in her area to School Y.
The Council wrote to Mrs E and said it had rejected her appeal in line with its home to school transport policy. It reiterated the nearest suitable school is the school closest to the home address, irrespective of whether it is in a located in another council’s area.
Mrs E complained to the Council. She said there were no other public transport alternatives for F to get to School Y. She also said she had not received a formal offer from the vacant seat payment scheme.
The Council responded to Mrs E’s complaint. It accepted there is an absence of suitable transport alternatives. However, it said School Y is not the nearest suitable school and parents have a responsibility to make suitable transport arrangements for their preferred choice. Finally, it attached a formal offer from the vacant seat payment scheme.
Mrs E responded and said the Council’s offer was unsuitable because the bus stop under the scheme is a 45-minute walk away. She said she would have to take F to the bus stop as the walking route was unsafe. She also said it was unreasonable for the Council to only provide home to school transport to a school that was within a different council’s area.
Mrs E sent a further email and said the Council had failed to use its discretionary powers. The Council responded and said she could refer her complaint to the Ombudsman if she remained dissatisfied with its response.
Analysis The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. This means we do not take a second look at a decision to decide if it was wrong. Instead, we look at the processes an organisation followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question, or give an opinion on whether the decision was right or wrong, regardless of how much a complainant disagrees with the decision.
The Council has decided, in line with its policy, that F does not attend the nearest suitable school. The fact F attends a school within the Council’s area does not change the fact she is not attending the nearest suitable school. Therefore, she does not qualify for home to school transport under the Council’s policy.
While I appreciate there are no other public transport alternatives, the Council is not obliged to provide home to school transport when a child is not attending the nearest suitable school. The Council’s policy says a parent will need to provide evidence the nearest school was not available or appropriate with any application for home to school transport. The Council considered Mrs E’s reasons for not sending F to the nearest suitable school. However, it decided there were places available at nearer schools and she could have reasonably applied to send F to a closer school. Therefore, there were no exceptional reasons to provide home to school transport. This was a decision it was entitled to take, and so I do not find fault.
Mrs E has wider concerns about the lack of public transport in her local area. The Council says its transport team has been successful in the provisional award of funding that will allow future growth to the public transport infrastructure. This is in the early stages of development, but this shows the Council is taking some action to resolve this issue.
Final decision
I have completed my investigation. The Council was not at fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman