Middlesbrough Council’s Integrated Transport Manager will be in attendance at the meeting to provide information in relation to the Home to School Transport Policy.
Recommendation: that the Panel determines what further information will be required for this scrutiny investigation.
Minutes:
The Head of the Integrated Transport Unit (ITU) was in attendance and gave a presentation in relation to Middlesbrough Council’s Home to School Transport Policy and implementation.
The Council’s Home to School Transport Policy for Students Aged 5-16 was last reviewed in preparation for September 2024. The Policy was deemed as ‘Good’ by peers and other Local Authorities. The Service continued to:
• Review Working Practices including improving communications, earlier assessment for future years’ offer with parents/carers and other stakeholders.
• Promote eligibility to stakeholders including schools, colleges, social workers.
• Review the Post 16 Transport Statement and information available to parents/carers.
• Work in greater detail with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), School specific and Health colleagues to gain a better understanding of the needs of the students based on their diagnosis or Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) needs.
With regard to policy implementation, assessments were carried out and/or validated by the Independent Needs Assessor using the following criteria for mainstream students and those with special needs and/or disability.
Education – Statutory Mainstream:
• Distance from the home to school by the shortest walking route (as accompanied by a responsible person).
• Low Income reducing the distance from 3 miles to 2.
• Low Income and attending a school on faith or religious belief - reduces the distance from 3-15 miles to 2-15 miles from the home.
• Unsafe Walking Route – (as outlined in the policy).
• No other special needs.
Education - Special Needs and/or Disability:
• Child/Young Person had an EHCP issued by Middlesbrough Council with the setting named at Section I and that was stated by the Local Authority and distance to the setting.
• Assess information from SEND, school or previous setting, parents/carers and other professionals such as Epilepsy, Asthma, Diabetic Teams at JCUH and CAMHS for areas including mobility, medical, behavioural, vulnerability, practicality and training.
Those SEND students that did not have an EHCP also had a needs assessment using a scoring matrix which covered the six areas listed above and attended their nearest qualifying setting.
Appeals were submitted in accordance with the Home to School and Post 16 Transport Appeals Policy.
Risk assessments were undertaken in line with the Council’s Risk Management Strategy and there were 4 levels of risk which ranged from Level 1: passenger had no additional needs other than transport and would not require an individual risk assessment or protocol, up to Level 4: passenger may be too high risk for ITU to transport or further measures and mitigation needed to be a major factor in any transport provision. Alternative transport provisions should be considered.
The number of children with complex educational and medical needs with an EHCP aged between 5-25 in both Middlesbrough and out of area was increasing with approximately 45 additional children becoming eligible for transport assistance each year. The ITU worked closely with colleagues in Education and the SEND team to ensure sufficiency of localised placements and help to plan for the future.
There were evolving pressures in the 2024/2025 budget and weekly management of expenditure to ensure that there were sufficient resources to meet the statutory duty of care.
The ITU also managed expectations through working with schools to identify any issues and also for use of school minibuses.
The ITU currently had a workforce of 146 and a fleet of vehicles to maintain. Routine maintenance on all vehicles whether owned/leased or hired had to be carried out every ten weeks. All vehicles operated on a Section 19 permit.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) were in place with all education settings and providers, including the River Tees Multi-Academy Trust (RTMAT), mainstream and SEND schools in order to help with resourcing delivery of the Home to School Transport Service. Wider benefits included: children arriving at school ready to learn, utilising the school’s specialist training and their detailed knowledge of the children and familiarisation.
The Travel Training provided helped young people to gain greater independence in preparation for adulthood and increase opportunities to education, employment and social interactions as well as maximising their world.
The ITU also offered transport support over the winter months and use of a personal budget for the Spring/Summer months, Parental Travel Assistance (PTA), Top Ups or Personal Budgets. Wider benefits of this support were improved health, greater independence, and opening up opportunities to meet with peers outside of school times.
In terms of Health and Safety, travel routes were monitored and improvements made as necessary. This helped to minimise risks, improve relationships with staff, operators, parents/carers, schools and most of all, passengers.
There were currently 1069 young people on record with SEND and 1067 young people receiving transport assistance. There were 388 mainstream pupils, 150 of whom attended Outwood Riverside, and 238 low income, distance needs. 189 routes operated daily across 61 education settings.
The 2024/2025 budget was set at £6.7 million and the Council received £47,300 for transporting children from low income households and those with distance needs. Additionally, the DfE currently fully funded the transport of pupils to Outwood while the Riverside School did not have physical building.
A Member asked how Middlesbrough compared with other Local Authorities in relation to costs and provision. Benchmarking with other Local Authorities was difficult since needs and operating systems were quite different. It was apparent however that all Local Authorities had experienced a marked increase in the number of students needing transport this year.
In response to a question about parental travel allowance, it was confirmed that this was one option that was available following discussion with parents as to the most suitable form of travel for their child. An allowance of 45p per mile for a return journey could be claimed.
The service liaised with SEND forums and other stakeholder groups in terms of feedback from parents and innovative ideas. The ITU also worked with the Council’s Inclusion Team to look at different ideas to help meet the needs of the families they represented.
The Chair thanked the Officer for her attendance at the meeting.
AGREED as follows that:
1. The information provided was received and noted.
2. Further information would be provided in relation to:
2018 comparative unit head costs – data published in 2019, statistical neighbours, consultative forums, reasons for the increase in complexity of needs of young people.