| State the Delegated Authority that you are relying on in order to make the decision | |
| Subject of decision | Formal approval of the Home to School Transport Policy 2016/2017, reflecting any formal consultation responses (and subsequent amendments) from stakeholders. |
| Text of decision | A draft of the Home to School Transport Policy 2016/2017 was presented to the Executive on 5th July 2016. It was agreed at the meeting that formal consultation would commence in the first term of the 2016/2017 academic year and to delegate authority to the Executive Member for Learning & Skills and Director of Children’s Services to approve the final Home to School Transport Policy following public consultation, making any necessary amendments. As a result, consultation began in December 2016 and concluded on 3rd February 2017. All stakeholders were contacted and provided with the relevant information to obtain the full consultation document and where to formally respond. The Council intends to focus its provision of home to school transport on its statutory obligations, which will result in the following changes to current practice; a) remove transport for late arrivals and early departures such as school day exclusions and poor punctuality; b) remove transport to routine medical appointments, Education Health & Care Plan (EHCP) assessments (other than exceptional circumstances e.g. where parental or guardian support not available); c) remove transport for other non-essential reasons during the school day such as lunchtime or after school clubs; d) remove transport for pupils transferring to another school during the day at the decision of the main school, examples include access to non-pupil referral unit off site alternate providers, commissioned by schools; e) remove non-statutory transport to pupils who are subject to either a Special Education Needs Assessment or its replacement Education, Health and Care Plan who do not have mobility needs requiring special transport and where pupils are not qualifying under distance or low-income criteria being transported to their school; f) remove transport for pupils attending nursery provision at The Cleveland Unit, Sunnyside, Pennyman and Beverly Primary schools with special units; g) formally introduce personal travel allowances for all pupils who would otherwise qualify for statutory transport, where it is the lowest cost option to the Council. At the close of the consultation process, the Council received 48 formal consultation responses. The responses ranged from suppliers of services such as taxi drivers voicing concerns over their livelihood suffering as a result, parents of children that may be affected, to responses of interest in better value for Council Tax and support for the proposals. There were other questions that did not bear relevance to the consultation subject i.e. concessionary travel for the elderly. Not every respondent answered all the questions in the process, with many responses clearly identifying situations from parents that would not be affected by the proposals. A range of the consultation mechanisms were considered; from direct electronic consultation with residents, to telephone calls and meetings with stakeholders such as Parents for Change, Head Teachers of affected schools and the South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). There was more than 50% support that the criteria for children with special education needs be adhered to. As a result of responses, it is recommended that the policy and proposals are formally approved, with the following minor amendments; • The Council tables the removal of nursery transport at the Joint Health and Well Being Board, as it believes that the nursery children will qualify for the patient transport service. • The Council will establish an independent appeals panel for Home to School Transport, to include a representative of Parents4Change. • The Council’s Assessment matrix is made available on the various stakeholder websites, so that it is readily accessible and transparent for how assessments reach their decision in the process. • A frequently asked questions (FAQ) sheet be produced and made available for stakeholders after the decision record of the proposals is published. This will address confusion and allay specific concerns that consultees had relating to their responses to the consultation process. Level 1 and 2 Equality Impact Assessments were also carried out. They concluded that where impacts were seen to occur, they were sufficiently mitigated through the minor changes considered and amended as part of the consultation process. |
| Reason for decision | To publish the draft policy that was presented to Executive in July 2016 and formally implement the changes to the previous policy (outlined above) |
| Other options considered (if any) | N/a |
| Declarations of Interest by any member or relevant local government body | There are no declarations of interest by any member or relevant local government body. |
| Who have you consulted as part of the decision making process | |
| Date of decision | 22 February 2017 |
| Service area | Education |
| Name of Delegated Officer making the decision - i | Eleni Ioannides, Interim Executive Director for Children’s Services, in conjunction with the Executive Member for Education & Skills, Councillor Janice Brunton. |
| Name of the Officer making the decision - If power has been sub-delegated to another officer | |
| Issue date:- | 22 February 2017 |
| Creation date:- | 22 February 2017 by Bernie Carr |
| Background paper/Impact Assessments | EIA Level 1 (31K/bytes) EIA Level 2 (131K/bytes) |