North Yorkshire Council (23 017 966)
Category : Education > School transport
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Mar 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s home to school transport for her child, Y. This is because the Council has since agreed to change the provider and an investigation is unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
- Mrs X complained about the Council’s home to school transport provider for her child, Y. Mrs X says the driver made inappropriate comments and was unsuitable.
- Mrs X said the matter caused her distress and frustration.
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 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.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X has a child, Y, who receives home to school transport in a taxi provided by the Council.
- Mrs X complained to the Council about the driver’s conduct, including making comments that made Y feel uncomfortable. The Council told Mrs X it would monitor the situation.
- Mrs X was dissatisfied with the Council’s response and brought her complaint to us. In the meantime, the Council spoke to Mrs X and told her it would change the taxi driver. This is what Mrs X wanted.
- Because the Council has now agreed to change the driver, an investigation by us would not achieve anything more. Therefore, we will not consider this complaint further.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman