| SPOTLIGHT |
Sandwell Council has agreed to review its school transport policy after an investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found flaws in the way it considered a family’s application for school transport.
Outlining the background to its investigation, the Ombudsman said 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 Ombudsman noted.
The parents made an appeal, but this was turned down because Sandwell 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 report noted.
The Ombudsman investigated and concluded that 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”, said the watchdog.
The investigation also found fault with the way the council handled the parents’ appeal, by failing to keep any records of the hearing.
The Ombudsman concluded that 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.
To remedy the injustice caused, the Ombudsman recommended the council:
The Ombudsman said that Sandwell has agreed to the recommendations.
Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, 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."
She added: “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.”
A Sandwell Council spokesperson said: "We acknowledge the findings of the Ombudsman and apologise to the family for the distress this matter has caused them.
"We confirm that the actions, as set out in the Ombudsman report, are already underway and we will be in touch with the family to send a formal apology and to make arrangements for payments. Transport to and from school is now being provided to the child and has been in place since the start of this school year.
"Like many local authorities, we are seeing a significant increase in demand for support for children with SEND, with a 51% increase in the number of children with an EHCP since 2019. We have already commenced a review of our services so that we can provide the best possible support to children and their parents and carers, and will incorporate the points raised by the Ombudsman’s report into this work.”
Lottie Winson
