Home to school transport and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

A recent Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) decision from 16 September 2024, highlighted key points about home to school transport when the pupil in question has an EHCP and is of compulsory school age, i.e., between five – sixteen years old.

Here, EHCPs should name just one school or college placement in Section I. If there are no caveats then the local authority is responsible for ensuring that the pupil attends the named placement; the responsibility should not fall to the parents.

If there is specific wording in Section I that the parents will be responsible for transport, then this arrangement need only remain if it is practical for the parents. Sometimes this will happen when a parental preference school or college is named in Section I along with a school the local authority considers to be the nearest suitable placement.

The LGO found that there was only one school named in the pupil’s EHCP, and so the local authority should have been providing home to school transport for the duration of the placement. Instead, the parents had no option but to arrange transportation so their son could go to school after requesting the local authority does so but was not agreed to.

An appeal was submitted to the local authority to reconsider its decision, which was also dismissed.

The LGO upheld the complaint in the parents’ favour, noting the local authority had not applied the correct legal processes and should have been providing home to school transport and to put it in place going forward.

This is a reminder of how important it is to check the wording in Section I of an EHCP and if there are any caveats that relieve the local authority of their legal duty to provide home to school transport to a solely named placement.

We recommend getting specialist legal advice if you have any questions on Section I in EHCPs. The Boyes Turner Education Team can be contacted on 0118 467 6547 or via senexpertsolicitors@boyesturner.com.