Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about home to school transport arrangements. We cannot investigate future injustice which has not yet happened.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that current home to school transport arrangements for his disabled son will end after the 2024-25 school year. He says this will cause him some difficulty in making alternative arrangements and claims the Council’s decision discriminates against him.

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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:

• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.

(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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered statutory guidance and local policies.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X and his ex-wife live separately and share custody of their son on a week on week off basis. His son’s home to school transport arrangements have allowed transport to or from two separate addresses in line with this.
7. The Council has changed its policy to say transport will only be provided from the child’s main residence (which is currently not Mr X’s address). Statutory guidance on home to school transport states there is no expectation councils will provide transport from two addresses if a child’s parents do not live together. We could not say the Council’s policy is flawed as it is now in line with government guidance.
8. The Council originally planned to end the current arrangement for Mr X’s son in October 2023. It has twice extended the two-address transport provision because it accepted some failures in communication with Mr X. I do not consider the impact of this is sufficient to justify investigation.
9. The arrangements are still in place, so the Council has not yet caused injustice we could investigate.
10. We have no power to decide the proposed future arrangements discriminate against Mr X under the Equality Act 2010. Discrimination claims are properly for the courts. Mr X has had and still has time to seek advice about a court application if he wishes to pursue a discrimination claim.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate future injustice which has not yet happened.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman