Council pay out after school transport suspended

The child missed 27 days of education after they lost their school transport

A family has received £1,500 from Surrey County Council after the authority failed to provide school transport for a child with complex medical needs.

The child missed 27 days of education as well as special needs provision, which caused his mother and the wider family “avoidable” distress, according to a report from the social care ombudsman.

The ombudsman ordered the council to pay out after a "service failure" in defaulting its legal duty to provide special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) transport to and from school.

A council spokesperson said it would not comment on individual cases but said it would "accept the findings from the ombudsman report and sincerely apologise for any distress caused”.

The report said the travel provider had suspended the child's transport in 2023 after it felt it could no longer meet the child's medical needs, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It said the child waited for their school transport to pick them up but it did not arrive and it was not until lunchtime the travel provider informed the council it had suspended its service.

Surrey County Council offered the mother of the child a travel allowance while it explored other solutions.

Report documents said the family experienced “avoidable distress, frustration and inconvenience”.

The social care ombudsman said “the council did exactly what we would expect in the circumstances it found itself in” and it now has contracts with two ambulance-style providers able to transport children with complex medical needs.

A council spokesperson said it knows "how important it is for children and young people to have access to their education setting" but a "lack of suitable providers" has meant some children have had to wait longer for appropriate arrangements.

They added: "In these circumstances we always work actively with families to find a solution and offer measures such as personal travel allowances in the interim.”

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