Council to apologise after mum wins case

HALTON Council has agreed to apologise to a mum after a public service watchdog ruled that it ‘failed’ to properly consider her autistic son’s eligibility for free school transport.

The Local Government And Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) found in favour of ‘Mrs X’, who took the issue to appeal.

An LGO report of its findings said Mrs X had applied for free school transport but the council refused because the boy, aged six, and referred to as ‘D’, lived within the statutory walking distance of two miles from his school.

Mrs X appealed, saying her son has autistic and sensory processing disorder and ‘has no comprehension of safety and does not acknowledge danger’.

She said her husband is too ill to walk with him and that as they are a one-car family, she is already struggling to take her son and his sister to school.

After appealing to Halton Council, a panel partially upheld the previous decision but agreed to offer free transport one day per week for the boy to attend respite care. This prompted her to complain to the ombudsman.

The LGO ruled that the council had ‘failed’ to properly consider the law, which says distance criteria do not apply to disabled children and that other fac- tors should be considered.

It said the council should have considered whether the boy could be expected to walk if accompanied and whether it was reasonable to expect the parents to do so, adding that the council had been unable to show evidence that it had considered Mrs X’s comments about her son’s disability and its effect on his ability to walk to school.

The LGO findings report said that this ‘procedural fault had caused an injustice to Mrs X and her son’.

Halton Council has now agreed to apologise to Mrs X, reconsider the case, and review its procedures.

In conclusion, the LGO said: “The law says the ombudsman can’t question the merits of a decision that is taken properly.

“As I have found fault in the process the council followed, it brings into question the council’s decision. This fault may have affected the outcome of the original decision and the appeal.

“This does not mean I can say D is an eligible child by virtue of his special educational needs or disability, as that is for the council to decide.

“The council needs to come to a view about whether D can walk the distance to school, either by himself or when accompanied.”

A Halton Council spokeswoman said: “The council carried out the actions agreed with the ombudsman following the decision.”