Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the safety of home to school transport. It is unlikely we would find she has been caused any significant injustice directly by the Council’s fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council has failed to provide the home to school transport her child, Y needs.

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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; or
• 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 Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Y has additional needs. The Council provides home to school transport. Miss X says the transport the Council provided from September 2024 is not safe and does not account for the children’s needs. She says Y does not like sitting near other people. She says Y is sat too close to the other passengers. She says this is a safety concern.
6. The Council in reply to Miss X’s complaint explained how it has assessed the companies offers to tender for the home to school transport contract and included the children’s needs. It said in October 2024 that:

“We have engaged with several stakeholders on your behalf regarding the size of the vehicle and the initial concerns raised by students traveling in it. After several weeks of observation, we have noted that these concerns have significantly diminished, and the school has confirmed that all students using this transport are arriving ready to learn.”

7. Miss X has confirmed now that there have been no safety incidents with where Y is sitting since September, after five months of home to school transport.

Analysis

8. Miss X says the worry and stress of the home to school transport potential safety issues she perceives, has been intense. If we were to investigate Miss X’s complaint, we are unlikely to find that she has been caused any significant direct injustice from any Council fault in the assessment and procurement process.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could say she has been directly caused any injustice by the Council’s fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman