The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the cost of travel to school. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Mrs X, complained about the cost of transport to school for her child. Mrs X is unhappy with recent increases in travel costs. Mrs X believes the Council should do more to provide help with school transport to those living in rural areas.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Councils have a duty to provide free transport to school to certain groups of eligible children. Mrs X’s child is not eligible for free transport as they do not attend the nearest qualifying school to home. The service Mrs X’s child travels to school on is not arranged or funded by the Council. The Council has responded to Mrs X’s complaint and explained it has no control over how much it costs to travel on the service in question.
While I understand Mrs X’s frustrations, we will not start an investigation into her complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council, and we have no control over how much the operator charges for the service in question. An investigation is not therefore appropriate.
Councils are required to have an appeals process for parents to challenge decisions about home to school transport. It is open to Mrs X to appeal for free transport, and she can argue any exceptional circumstances she thinks are relevant.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman