A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda item

HOME TO SCHOOL TRANSPORT POLICY CONSULTATION

(KEY DECISION)

 

Report No. 157/2016

Minutes:

(KEY DECISION)

 

Report No. 157/2016 was received from the Director for Places (Environment, Planning and Transport).

 

The Portfolio Holder, Mr Mathias, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to inform Cabinet of the responses received during the public consultation exercise on home to school and SEND transport polices and seek approval for implementation of the revised policies from September 2017.

 

It was noted that an explanation had not been provided regarding the blocks of yellow in text; officers were requested to provide an explanation in the future.

 

Recommendations made at Places Scrutiny Panel on 15 September had been circulated to Cabinet members.  Changes discussed included:

 

i.                 The inclusion of the pro-forma for assessing the safety of walking routes in Appendix B.

ii.                The amendment of section 9.1 to reduce the time for stage 1 reviews from 20 to 10 days.

iii.              The amendment of section 3.10 to allow free transport to be provided for pupils who move in year 10 as well as year 11.

iv.              The amendment of Section 6 to include the requirement for parents to be given reasonable notice of any changes to transport arrangements.

 

During the discussion the following points were raised:

 

i)                 That a reduction in the time for stage 1 reviews from 20 to days would be in line with the Council’s customer care standards.

ii)               That the time limit for  second stage panels was in accordance with national guidance and it would be very difficult to shorten this time.

iii)              To provide free transport for pupils who moved in year 10 would have a cost implication of £10k to £13k per student per annum.  Current policy was for years 6, 10 and 11 to be free; to change to year 11 only would result in a saving.

iv)             In the previous 18 months there had been three cases of house moves for year 10 pupils.

v)               The difference in cost between providing taxi transport from home to school or providing transport from home to a bus route to school was minimal.

vi)             That the diagram Appendix E needed to be corrected before the policy was finalised.

vii)            The change in provision of free transport to year 11 only had not been highlighted during public consultation; however, it is unlikely to be a major issue for most parents as it would be an unforeseeable event.

viii)           Transport appeals may start as a query and not initially be registered as a formal appeal.

ix)             That a decision on the withdrawal of free transport from years 6 and 10 be deferred to allow for further discussion between the Director  for Places (Environment, Planning and Transport), the Portfolio Holder and the education department on the consequences.

x)               Concern was expressed that documents were not being written in plain English.  Cabinet had previously requested that all policy documents when being reviewed were written in plain English.

xi)             Concern was expressed that during consultation significant change to policy were not highlighted.

 

DECISIONS

 

1)    Cabinet APPROVED the home to school transport policy contained in Appendix 1 to Report No. 157/2016 for implementation from September 2017.

 

2)    Cabinet APPROVED the special education needs and disabilities (SEND) transport policy contained in Appendix 2 to Report No. 157/2016 for implementation from September 2017.

 

3)    Cabinet AUTHORISED the Director for Places (Environment, Planning and Transport in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Places (Highways, Environment, Transport and Community Safety), and the education department to reach a decision within the next 30 days on year 10 free transport and to incorporate the following changes:

 

i.   The inclusion of the pro-forma for assessing the safety of walking routes in Appendix B.

ii.   The amendment of section 9.1 to reduce the time for stage 1 reviews from 20 to 10 days.

iii.  The amendment of Section 6 to include the requirement for parents to be given reasonable notice of any changes to transport arrangements.

 

 

Reason for the decisions

1.     The draft policies had been through the required consultation process and proposed policies revised to address any valid issues raised.

2.     To allow full consideration to be given to the consequences for parents by withdrawing free transport for year 10.

 

Supporting documents: