The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to withdraw free home-to-school transport, affecting Mrs X’s child. The Council upheld her subsequent appeal, so investigation would no longer be likely to find potential injustice to Mrs X.
The complaint
Mrs X complained about a Council decision to withdraw free home-to-school transport from children in her area, affecting her child.
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 any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In the period since Mrs X complained to us, her appeal against the refusal of free home-to-school transport has been successful. This removes the potential for injustice to Mrs X.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the upholding of her appeal means we would be unlikely to find the original decision has caused any injustice in the form of lost free school transport.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman