Summary: We have ended our investigation into Mrs N’s complaint about how the Council considered and administered its policy for post-16 transport to education or training for her child, P, and the costs she has incurred to transport and accommodate P on the mainland. This is because another person started court action about the same, or very similar, matter. An investigation by us might stray into matters to be decided by the court.

The complaint

1. Mrs N complained the Council failed to provide advice and guidance and sufficient post-16 education or training options for her child, P. Mrs N also complained the Council failed to properly consider or provide sufficient funding for transport and accommodation for P to be able attend post-16 education, or safety measures when P became stranded due to cancelled travel arrangements. Mrs N said she had to meet the additional cost for transport and accommodation of several thousand pounds per academic year which put her family in financial hardship. Mrs N wanted the Council to reimburse the costs, provide appropriate transport and accommodation costs or regulated accommodation in the future and improve its policies to ensure they were in line with the legislation.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate.
3. 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.
4. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation where the matter is to be decided by a court to such an extent that there would be no useful purpose to be served by investigation, or an investigation might stray in to matters decided, to be decided, or could be decided by the court in an ongoing court case. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I read the documents Mrs N provided and discussed the complaint with her on the phone.
6. I considered the information the Council provided about the application to court by another person.
7. Mrs N and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

Back to top

What I found

Relevant legislation

8. The transport duty for young people of sixth form age (16 to 18, or 19 if they started the course before they turned 19) is set out in the Education Act 1996 and the Post-16 transport to education and training statutory guidance.
9. The overall intention of the 16 to 19 transport duty is to ensure that young people can access the post-16 education and training of their choice, and that councils assess if any support is necessary for those young people to access it.
10. Councils have a duty to publish a transport policy statement setting out the transport arrangements they consider necessary to make to facilitate attendance at education or training, and the financial help available for;
• learners aged 16-19; and
• learners with Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans up to the age of 25 who started their programme of learning before their 19th birthday. (Education Act 1996 section 509AA).

What happened

11. This section sets out the key events in this case and is not intended to be a detailed chronology.
12. P lived at home with Mrs N on the Isles of Scilly. The Island does not have any post-16 education providers. To access post-16 education P travelled to the mainland. Travel on and off the Island is by sea or by air.
13. In September 2023 P was aged between 16 and 18 and wanted to continue their education. They attended a college on the mainland which had boarding accommodation, as travelling to and from the Island each day was not feasible.
14. Mrs N submitted an invoice to the Council in March 2024 covering the 2023/24 academic year. The invoice requested the payment of the cost of accommodation and travel to and from the college for P, which was several thousand pounds. The Council paid Mrs N £6,365 which was the amount of grant provided to it by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA – a government department). This was significantly less than the amount Mrs N had invoiced.
15. Mrs N complained to the Council that it failed to provide sufficient information about post-16 education in advance and the funding it provided for travel and accommodation costs to access compulsory post-16 education was insufficient. Mrs N said its post-16 transport policy did not properly consider the needs of the young people and it did not properly safeguard young people travelling to attend education. Mrs N asked the Council to increase the grant to cover accommodation costs, pay the remaining amount she had invoiced which came to several thousands of pounds, review its policy and ensure it was in line with the legislation and statutory guidance and ensure young people were safeguarded.
16. The Council accepted its post-16 transport policy was not in line with the statutory guidance and it should review it. It said it should consult with families on the Island and carry out an equality impact assessment about the funding and gather legal advice on how it should support young people to travel safely. It encouraged Mrs N to complain to the Ombudsman, and the government to secure an increase in the grant it received from the ESFA.
17. Mrs N was dissatisfied with the Council’s response and asked it to consider the complaint further. Mrs N said the Council had not responded to all her points of complaint sufficiently or explained how it had met its statutory duties.
18. The Council provided some further explanation, told Mrs N it could not provide any funding from its own budget. It said it would review its post-16 transport policy, but did not uphold the complaint.
19. As Mrs N remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response, she complained to us as set out in paragraph one.
20. Since first complaining to us, the Council agreed in September 2024 to increase the amount of grant it paid parents from £6,365 to £8,000 as a one-off uplift, as it had unused ESFA grant money to distribute. This was still significantly short of the actual costs incurred by Mrs N.
21. The Council provided me with evidence that another person who lived on the Island had started legal action against the Council. The legal action was about the Council’s post-16 transport to education policy in relation to the 2024/25 academic year and the funding for transport and accommodation costs.
22. I have ended this investigation because another person started legal action about the same, or very similar, matter Mrs N complained to the Ombudsman about. Although Mrs N complained to us about matters in the 2023/24 academic year, and the court action relates to the 2024/25 academic year, the subject of the complaint is so similar to the matters to be decided by the court, that there would be no useful purpose to be served by investigation, or an investigation might stray in to matters to be decided, or could be decided by the court in the ongoing court case. The court is an appropriate body to consider the Council’s actions in relation to its post-16 transport policy. We will not investigate this complaint as it is so closely linked to the current legal action.
23. Once the court has come to its decision, if Mrs N believes there is any outstanding injustice caused to her regarding this complaint for the period September 2023 to the end of P’s post-16 education that the Council has not offered to remedy, she may complain to us again. She would first need to complain again to the Council and receive a final response.

Back to top

Final decision

24. I have ended my investigation. Another person started court action about the same matter, or matters closely linked, and therefore I will not investigate it further.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman