The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a home to school transport application. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complained the Council had not fairly considered her daughter, C’s, home to school transport application.
She says this has resulted in the Council not granting C home to school transport meaning she is required to drive C. She says this is affecting her health, and she has delayed medical treatment to ensure she can drive C.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)) We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), 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
Miss X complained the Council had not fairly considered C’s application for home to school transport. She says it should not have considered C’s mobility vehicle without considering the surrounding circumstances.
The Council reviewed Miss X’s application and appeal and decided C could use her mobility vehicle to be transported to school and therefore did not also need home to school transport.
We will not investigate this because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant further investigation. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body. We look at the processes an organization followed to make its decision. If we consider it followed those processes correctly, we cannot question whether the decision was right or wrong.
In this case the appeal panel considered Miss X’s comments and supporting information. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council considered Miss X’s appeal to warrant further investigation.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council came to its decision.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman