The case saw parents apply for transport for their son, who has special needs (SEN) 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 plan (EHCP), according to the LGO’s report.
The council turned down the parents’ request, meaning that parents and family members have had to take the boy to and from school since August 2023.
The parents made an appeal, but this was turned down because the council said it had only agreed to name the parents’ preferred school in the boy’s EHCP on the understanding they had accepted responsibility for transport, LGO Amerdeep Somal said.
Her investigation found 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 EHCP, and so it became his ‘nearest suitable school’ and the boy should qualify for transport funding,” she added.
The investigation also found fault with the way the council handled the parents’ appeal as it failed to keep any records of the hearing.
It 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, the review found.
Somal 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 EHCP, 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.”
Sandwell Council has agreed to apologise to the parents and put in place school transport for their son.
It will also make a payment to the mother to reflect the cost she and other family members have incurred transporting her son to school.
The boy’s father will also receive £100 in compensation for the time and trouble of making the complaint.
Sandwell Council said it “acknowledges the findings of the ombudsman and apologise to the family for the distress this matter has caused them”.
A spokesperson highlighted increased pressure on local authorities due to growing numbers of children with EHCPs.
A Local Government Association report published earlier this year found that a £6.2bn funding gap faced by councils over the next two years “is being driven by rising cost and demand pressures to provide […] children’s services, homelessness support and home-to-school transport for children with SEND”.
The Sandwell Council spokesperson said: "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.”
