The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council delayed providing home to school travel assistance for her children. This is because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council or achieve a different outcome.
The complaint
Mrs X complains that the Council delayed processing her application for home to school travel assistance for her children, meaning that they missed out on education.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X has a personal transport budget in place to arrange transport to and from school for her two children. She asked the Council to make changes to the budget, which the Council treated as an appeal.
The Council accepted that it delayed completing its appeal. It apologised and offered to reimburse Mrs X for any costs she had incurred transporting her children to and from school. It also apologised for not informing Mrs X of her appeal rights.
I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because the actions taken by the Council are proportionate and appropriate in the circumstances. Further investigation would therefore not add to the one carried out by the Council.
I cannot recommend that the Council make any remedy payment for missed education provision. This is because the Councils’ policy makes it clear that parents have a duty to ensure that children attend school whilst an application is being considered. For this reason, investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we could not add to the investigation carried out by the Council or achieve a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman