The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with the travel costs of Ms X’s child because there is no worthwhile outcome that we can achieve by doing so.
The complaint
Ms X complained to the Council that it had not covered the cost of her taking her child to educational provision which was included in their Education, Heath and Care (EHC) plan.
Ms X said this was causing her financial difficulties and making it difficult for her child to access the provision they needed.
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 further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(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
Ms X’s child has an EHC plan which contains sessions at different locations.
Ms X complained to the Council that she was not receiving financial support for the costs incurred in driving her child to the sessions.
The Council apologised as it had not provided Ms X with the information for her to apply for direct payments for this cost when she had enquired previously and reimbursed her for the transport costs.
The Council also included a payment for the time left in the academic year and confirmed the following academic year’s budget would include this cost.
This approach is proportionate and it is not likely that we would achieve anything further by investigating this complaint further.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman