“More importantly, the Ombudsman has ruled that families should not have to show ‘exceptional circumstances’ with regards to why parents are not able to walk the 3 miles there and back twice a day – and that future appeals panels should take into account only what is ‘reasonably practical’.

Local government Ombudsman rules against Cornwall Council, and in favour of Delabole families, in the long running saga of school bus passes

Posted By theboss on 12th July 2019

By Graham Smith

Cornwall Council has apologised to the parents of children from Delabole whose bus passes were taken away because County Hall officials decreed that they could walk, safely, nearly three miles along a narrow country lane to get to school at Camelford.

More than a dozen children have been affected by the council's approach, in a dispute which has run for several years. Few people doubt the lane is too dangerous for children to walk alone. But Cornwall Council’s school transport policy allowed officials to shave £50,000 off their budget by taking away the passes. Nearly 6,000 people have so far signed a petition in protest at the ruling.

Local Cornwall councillor Dominic Fairman said a ruling last week from the Local Government Ombudsman represented an important victory. He said the bus passes should never have been taken away in the first place. The youngsters who were affected, in 2017, will now get their passes back until they leave school.

via https://cornwallreports.co.uk/local-government-ombudsman-rules-against-c...