A public sector watchdog has warned councils they must not fail disabled young students with a right to travel support after a local authority refused to provide free transport to college for a young woman.
The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council has agreed to apologise after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) found it at fault, having caused “avoidable frustration, avoidable time and trouble and uncertainty” to the young woman with complex needs.
The council, said the ombudsman, must also consider if it should provide her with free transport to get to college and review cases of other disabled adult learners in a similar situation are owed free transport.
The young woman has an education, health and care plan (EHCP), cannot travel independently and needs support with most tasks. She has had free transport for her education since she was three years old.
Duty towards adult learners
Yet when she began college in September 2024, Windsor and Maidenhead offered her family £1,200 a year towards travel costs even though its own calculations put the cost of suitable transport as high as £15,200. The council had information showing the family was on a low income.
Legal requirements for disabled adult learners aged 19–25 with an EHCP are different from those covering sixth-form students and the council had confused the two.
Under the Education Act 1996, local authorities have a legal duty to provide transport free of charge where they consider it “necessary” to help some young adults attend education or training.
This applies to adult learners aged 19-25 years who have an EHCP and attending an education setting arranged by their council. If the authority decides a young person needs transport to get there, it must provide this for free.
However, the woman’s mother had had to drive her to college for over a year, using money from her care budget – funding intended to support her independence.
The family had appealed twice before approaching the LGSCO. The mother said the council’s approach had caused her distress and mental health issues and also lost her money and work opportunities. in addition, it had affected her daughter’s access to education and reduced her independence.
The LGSCO found Windsor and Maidenhead caused unnecessary distress, financial hardship and wasted time.
Left to pick up the pieces
Ombudsman Amerdeep Clarke said: “Because of the council’s misunderstanding of the way education transport should be funded for different age groups, this young woman’s access to education was put at risk, and her mother was left to pick up the pieces – financially and practically.”
Cruciually, Clarke said this was “not an isolated case”; her office had found authorities around the country were confusing the rules for pupils of compulsory school age, sixth form and adult learners with an EHCP.
She said: “Councils have a clear duty to look at each person’s circumstances individually, and to apply the right rules for adult learners with an EHCP. In this case, the council did neither.
“I am pleased it has now agreed to reconsider its decision, and hope the lessons from this case will ensure this does not happen to anyone else.”
As well as the apology, the council must pay £500 in compensation, look again at the case with the correct rules and repay transport costs if it decides it should have provided the transport free.
Windsor and Maidenhead also has to update its policy to ensure the failure is not repeated.
The council accepted the LGSCO recommendations.
Case: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council (24 023 246). 10 Feb 2026.
