National Ombudsmen
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Council agrees to review its school transport policy following Ombudsman investigation
Sandwell council has agreed to review its school transport policy after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found flaws in the way it considered a family’s application for travel support.
The parents applied for transport for their son, who has special needs and attends a school more than three miles away from his home. The school was the only one the council identified in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
The council turned down the parents’ request. As a result, parents and family members have had to take the boy to and from school since August 2023.
The parents made an appeal, but this was turned down because the council said it had only agreed to name the parents’ preferred school in the boy’s EHC Plan on the understanding they had accepted responsibility for transport.
The Ombudsman’s investigation found the council did not follow the correct procedure when deciding whether school transport should be provided. Only one school was named in the boy’s EHC Plan, and so it became his ‘nearest suitable school’ and the boy should qualify for transport funding.
The investigation also found fault with the way the council handled the parents’ appeal, failing to keep any records of the hearing. The panel also failed to consider whether there was a suitable school with places available nearer to the boy’s home, and did not give the parents the opportunity to attend the appeal hearing.
Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, yesterday said
“Councils must provide help or transport for children to attend their nearest available school with places, if it is more than the set distance away from home. This distance will depend on the child’s age.
“In this case, the boy could only attend the school identified in his EHC Plan, and the council should therefore have made suitable home to school travel arrangements for him. But it did not do so.
“Because the council has got this wrong, the boy’s parents and other family members have had to rearrange their days or alter their working patterns to take him to school instead.
“Caselaw has been quite clear on this subject for more than 10 years, and in 2023 clear statutory guidance was issued on this topic, so there is really no excuse now for councils to get these sorts of decisions wrong. I am pleased the council has agreed to look again at its policy, and hope this will make things more transparent for both staff and parents in future.”
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman remedies injustice and shares learning from investigations to help improve public, and adult social care, services. In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the parents and put in place school transport for their son.
It will also make a payment to the mother to reflect the cost she and other family members have incurred transporting her son to school.
It will also pay the father a symbolic amount of £100 for the time and trouble of making the complaint.
The Ombudsman has the power to make recommendations to improve processes for the wider public. In this case the council will arrange staff training for decision makers and appeal panel members. It will also review its policy to ensure it provides clear information about the tests it must apply when deciding whether to pay for transport or provide travel assistance, and also the action it will take when parents’ preferences are incompatible with efficient use of resources.
