WIREDGOV

Leicestershire County Council’s assessment of the safety of school walking routes was flawed, finds Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin.

In her report, issued yesterday, she says, “I believe the Council’s decisions were the result of a fundamentally flawed decision-making process, and this was maladministration.”

Seven parents complained that the Council either wrongly withdrew or failed to provide free home-to-school transport for their children, in that it did not consider the safety of each route before making its decision.

The Council initially confirmed to the parents in May 2011 that their children would be entitled to free home-to-school transport. The decision was reversed in October 2011 when the Council wrote to confirm it would be withdrawn as their home addresses were within three miles of their respective schools.

Six of the complainants appealed, disputing the safety of the route, in particular the lack of street lighting, but not the distance. One parent also questioned the lack of consultation as the Council had traditionally provided transport to families in the area.

The Council only considered the width of the roads, crossing points and existence of pavements. It did not consider street lighting or the condition of one of the routes at different times of the year; nor did it consider most of the factors as set out in the Department for Education & Skills’ (DfES) Home to School Travel and Transport Guidance. It also failed to consider the complainants’ representations.

The Ombudsman finds the Council’s flawed decision-making process and subsequent review were maladministration causing the complainants avoidable uncertainty about whether it would provide free home-to-school transport, as well as the time and trouble of pursuing their complaints with the Ombudsman.

The Council has now amended its Home to School Transport Policy following a formal review of its walking route assessment process and carried out reassessments of most of the relevant routes. The reassessments conform to the amended walking route assessment process and are compliant with the Home to School Transport Guidance. However, the Council has yet to complete the assessment for a route used by one of the complainants’ children. The Council has not written to the six other complainants or to others similarly affected to confirm the outcome of the reassessments and advise of the right to review and challenge its decision.

The Ombudsman recommends that, to remedy the injustice, the Council should:

• review and amend its Home to School Transport Policy to ensure it is compliant with the DfES guidance
• reassess each of the routes under its amended policy and DfES guidance
• inform all the complainants and those similarly affected of the outcome and advise of their right of review
• review and amend the review process to ensure all representations are considered
• apologise to the complainants and pay them £100 each for their time and trouble, and
• if the assessments determine the school routes as unavailable –
  • provide free home-to-school transport for the complainants’ children, and
  • reimburse their reasonable costs incurred from January 2011.
    
    Downloads
    
    Report 11 014 974 et al Leicestershire CC (72KB)