Ombudsman finds fault with council policy and factsheet on home to school transport

The Ombudsman asked the local authority questions about the “widespread impact” of its education transport policy, after a previous investigation had identified concerns.

The report noted: “We had reason to believe there was widespread systemic failure on the part of the council. Therefore, we launched a separate investigation to determine the scale of the problem.”

During the investigation, the council said parental consent was a “prerequisite” for issuing a personal travel budget, and that the process begins with an application.

The council said if a child is eligible, an officer visits the family to discuss options and secure an agreement. The council confirmed it issued a factsheet, explaining the personal travel budget. 

The Ombudsman said: “the council position, [that] the personal travel budget is based on agreement, is in line with statutory guidance. However, this is not how the council acted in the previous Ombudsman investigation.

“The council was unable to provide any evidence the parent consented in the previous investigation, and the complainant was clear they had not given consent.”

The Ombudsman found that the council policy and factsheet do not mention the parent needing to agree to an alternative way of providing transport.

The investigation concluded: “The council policy is therefore not in accordance with the statutory guidance. The personal travel budget factsheet the council provided does not mention the requirement to agree to a personal travel budget.

“I find fault with the council policy and factsheet. The statutory guidance is clear, the parent must agree to any alternative ways to arrange education transport. Neither the policy nor the factsheet makes this clear.”

To remedy the injustice caused to children and young people through “a failure to ensure they made an informed decision regarding education transport”, the council agreed to take the following actions:

• Rewrite the factsheets to make it clear a personal travel budget is available if the parent agrees.
• Rewrite the policy to make it clear a personal travel budget is available if the parent agrees.

The Ombudsman said the council had agreed to the recommended actions.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “We accept the findings of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. We have already begun reviewing our processes to ensure decisions are clearly evidenced, families receive accurate information and our policies are applied consistently. Supporting children and young people with additional needs to access education safely remains a top priority for the Council, and we are committed to learning from this case."

Lottie Winson