THE county council has been rapped for ignoring a dad fearing for the safety of his young son who had been forced to catch the bus to school on his own. 

Worcestershire County Council has come under fire for the way it dealt with the concerns of a dad-of-two who was forced to send his nine-year-old son to school on public transport using a “dangerous” route.

It is not the first time the council has been criticised for its unlawful and “rigid” home-to-school transport policy, which wrongly ignores the journey children would have to take from their homes to catch a bus when making judgements, with the ombudsman ruling against the council four times in the last three years on the same failure.

The council said in 2020 that it would change its policy to meet the law but it has still not rewritten its rules according to the ombudsman.

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The report by the local government ombudsman said the single parent, known as ‘Mr C’, had objected to a decision by the council to offer a free bus pass to his eldest son for a route that dropped him off near his new middle school from their village instead of the free dedicated service that was available at his previous middle school.

‘Mr C’ was concerned that his son would have to walk unaccompanied across a busy dual carriageway using an “unsafe” crossing where many cars were known to jump red lights.

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The ombudsman said it found a “series of failures” in the council’s handling of his case and “missed repeated opportunities” to correct it over several months.

The report goes on to say the council’s responses had “fell short” and “failed to engage with his concerns" and ‘Mr C’ had had to wait “far too long.”

The ombudsman said it was “concerned” to be repeating criticisms it had made in previous years about the way the council was making decisions on home-to-school transport, despite saying it would improve, and for “ignoring” the concerns of parents over the safety of some routes.

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The council was also criticised again for its “confusing” appeals and complaints system.

By law, councils have to provide free home-to-school transport for ‘eligible’ children including those who live more than three miles away or have to take a ‘tricky’ route or those who have special educational needs, disabilities or mobility problems.

The county council said it prefers to provide free bus passes for “sustainability and cost” reasons and expects children to be able to walk up to a mile to and from pick-up and drop-off points and be accompanied by parents.

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A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: “We have accepted the recommendations of the investigation and have apologised to the complainant for where we went wrong.

“We aim to ensure that those who wish to appeal a school transport decision, feel they are able to do so, and we will use the findings and learning from this investigation to inform our future practice.”