The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the home to school transport provided to the complainant’s son. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The Council has made changes to the transport and it is unlikely we could achieve anything more.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about her son’s home to school transport. Mrs X said the transport took too long and her son often arrived at school late.
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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In response to Mrs X’s concerns the Council has made changes to her son’s transport. This has reduced the journey time and changed when he arrives at school. The Council says it asked Mrs X to provide details of any new issues with the transport but has not received a response.
We will not therefore start an investigation into Mrs X’s complaint. This is because it is unlikely we could add anything further to the Council’s response. If there are still issues with her son’s transport, Mrs X needs to report them to the Council. We could then consider if an investigation was appropriate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could achieve anything more.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman