
Ombudsman sends mum’s complaint about response to school bus queries back to North Lanarkshire Council
Ombudsman sends mum’s complaint about response to school bus queries back to North Lanarkshire Council
Over 400 children at schools in Wishaw and Motherwell will no longer qualify for free transport
A concerned mum campaigning against a decision by North Lanarkshire Council to reduce mileage limits for free school transport was recently joined by Clare Adamson MSP on the “dangerous” walking route her son would be expected to take.
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Kerry Anne Ferrie’s six-year-old son Sean attends Cathedral Primary in Motherwell, which is 1.6 miles walking distance from his home.
In a bid to save £3.6million, North Lanarkshire Council has agreed to change qualifying mileage limits for free school transport from one mile to two miles for primary school pupils, and two to three miles for secondary school pupils.
Over 400 other children at schools in Wishaw and Motherwell will no longer qualify. Accompanying Sean on his daily walk to school would take Kerry Anne up two-and-a-half hours every day.
In a bid to have the council scrap the plans, Sean recorded a video of what his challenging daily walking route would entail if the proposals are given the go-ahead.
It shows him set off from home and negotiating several busy and congested roads, speeding traffic, and a number of crossings.
“Sean will be eight years old by the time this comes in but even at that age I wouldn’t let him walk that route,” said Kerry Anne. “I’m not saying that there are not routes that are safe, there definitely is ones that are supported by public transport.
“But for certain high schools, and we haven’t even got to primaries yet, the voice of the parents and the child are not being taken into account and the routes aren’t safe and are not supported by public transport to get the kids to-and-fro. That’s the problem.”
Kerry Anne, along with other parents whose children are affected, has serious concerns over the decision which she claims was already made before a statutory consultation had been carried out.
She made a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the council asking for clarity and more information on what had gone on during a council committee meeting where the changes were agreed.
Unhappy with the council’s response to the FOI, she then complained to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman who agreed that the council hadn’t answered her complaint as fully as they should.
In the complaint she stated the decision making on the consultation and change “did not appear to have been made in the spirit of the school statutory consultation legislation and as such brings into question the legitimacy of a statutory consultation”.
Kerry Anne had also claimed that minutes of a council committee meeting did not accurately reflect the discussion, that the chair of the meeting was “bullying” other committee members, and that the decision was unfairly impacting children attending denominational schools – which can have a wider catchment area.
Kerry Anne said: “The ombudsman complaint handler has concluded that the council has not responded to my complaint sufficiently including but not limited to: the behaviour of the chairperson, protected characteristics of religion, and the decision not being compliant due to cost savings already being incorporated into the budget.”
The mum-of-one says the ombudsman’s decision has highlighted “an inadequate complaint handling process” at the local authority.
Kerry Anne added: “If they published the information such as risk assessments online then it would help, but the information is not accessible and we need to put in FOIs to get it.”
A spokesperson for North Lanarkshire Council said: “We will review the outcome from the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman. The council uses the same public complaint system as all local authorities in Scotland and can be accessed online on the council’s website or by telephone.”
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