Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision not to award free school transport for the complainant’s son. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council rejected his application for home to school transport for his son (Y). Mr X says the Council previously granted transport for the year in 2023 on the grounds of exceptional circumstances.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mr X.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Local authorities must make travel arrangements, free of charge, to help the attendance at school of eligible children resident in their area. (Section 508B, Education Act 1996).
6. A child is eligible if they are of compulsory school age, they attend their nearest suitable school, and:
• the distance from home to school is more than the statutory walking distance; or
• the child could not reasonably be expected to walk to school because of their SEN, disability, or mobility problem, even if accompanied by their parent; or
• they would not be able to walk to that school in reasonable safety, even if they were accompanied by their parent.
7. The Department for Education publishes Statutory Guidance (the Guidance) on Home to School Transport. Paragraph five explains the nearest secondary school to the home of a child of secondary school age will almost always be their nearest suitable school.
8. The Guidance also explains extended rights to free school transport. It says a child is eligible for free travel to school if they are eligible for free school meals or a parent they live with receives minimum Working Tax Credit and they are:
• Aged 8 or over but under 11, attend their nearest suitable school and it is more than 2 miles from home; or
• Aged 11 to 16 years and attend one of their three nearest suitable schools provided it is more than 2 miles but not more than 6 miles from their home.

There is also a provision for children attending a school chosen by parents on the grounds of religion or belief.

9. The Guidance recommends a two-stage appeals process for parents to challenge decisions about home to school transport.
10. In 2023, Mr X asked the Council to provide Y with free transport to secondary school. He explained Y lives 50% of the time with his mother and 50% of the time with Mr X, who lives more than seven miles from the school. The Council agreed at the time there were exceptional circumstances and provided free school transport for Y for one year. It explained Mr X would have to re-apply for 2024.
11. Mr X applied for school transport for Y for 2024. He explained Y’s circumstances had not changed; except he now qualifies for free school meals.
12. This time, having considered the information, the Council decided that a child living at more than one address is not an exceptional circumstance. It said there were lots of families who have similar living arrangements, sometimes across wider areas.
13. It also noted that, although Y is eligible for free school meals, this does not make him eligible for free school transport because Mr X lives more than six miles from the school.
14. Mr X appealed the Council’s decision. An Appeals Committee refused Miss X’s appeal at the second stage of the Council’s appeals process. It noted Y’s living arrangements but confirmed the original decision that Y was not attending the nearest suitable school and did not qualify under the free school meals extended right because Mr X lives more than six miles from the school.
15. We will not start an investigation into Mr X’s complaint.
16. We are not a right of further appeal and cannot question a council’s decision if it has made it in line with the correct process.
17. The Council granted school transport for one year. Following Mr X’s application for transport for a second year, it decided Y is not an eligible child because she is not attending the nearest suitable school. And the circumstances are not exceptional and explained its reasoning for this decision.
18. That decision is in line with the relevant legislation set out in the Guidance. There is no evidence of fault.
19. The Council then considered Mr X’s appeals in line with its published policy. This accords with the Guidance. The Council considered the information Mr X provided but decided not to provide transport. It confirmed the Council’s original decision. This is a decision the Council was entitled to take.
20. While I understand Mr X is disappointed with the Council’s decision, there is not enough evidence of fault in how it was reached for us to become involved.

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Final decision

21. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the way the Council decided not to grant free school transport for Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman