The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the school transport provision for Miss X’s child. It is unlikely that an investigation by us would add to the Council’s own investigation or lead to the outcome Miss X is seeking.
The complaint
Miss X said a transport company failed to report a seizure her child had in a taxi on the way home from school. She wanted the Council to change the provider.
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: any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X’s child’s risk assessment stated they could suffer seizures. On arrival home from school one afternoon, they were found to have had a seizure of a different type, and staff had assumed the child was sleeping.
In response to Ms X’s complaint, the Council stated it would revise the child’s risk assessment, and that it had reminded the provider that all seizures must be reported. It did not see a need to seek a new provider, but offered Miss X a payment if she wished to make other travel arrangements. Were we to investigate, it is unlikely we would recommend more than that, or that we would recommend the Council sought a new provider.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because investigation by us would be unlikely to add to the Council’s own investigation, or to lead to the outcome she is seeking.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman