Mr A complained about the Council’s decision to reject his request for post-16 additional learning needs (“ALN”) transport for his daughter.
The Ombudsman considered that the eligibility criteria which the Council had applied was not available to the public at the time of the request, or contained within its policy. She also considered that the Council had made no true assessment of Mr A’s daughter, and had restricted its discretion by applying this criteria.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 4 weeks, make a full assessment of Mr A’s daughter’s circumstances and re-consider the request, and to review its eligibility criteria. Further, within 8 weeks, to undertake a review of all applications within the last 12 months to identify any decisions where the same criteria was applied, and agree to re-consider any applications identified.