Issue - meetings

Cabinet Member: Schools Improvement

Forward Plan Ref: 2010/072

Contact: Neil Darlington, Service Manager – Admissions & Transport Tel: (01865) 815844

Report by Director for Children, Young People & Families (CA10).

The current Home to School Transport Policy goes beyond statutory requirements, primarily in the provision made for faith transport and some non Oxfordshire residents. and is inequitable. The proposed Home to School Transport Policy for 2011/12 removes these inequalities, meets all current statutory requirements and would result in significant cost savings. However, in addressing these issues the proposed new policy will have an adverse impact on some families, for example those non-Oxfordshire residents who live in Caversham and those Catholic families in the Bicester area who receive subsidised travel to the Blessed George Napier School, Banbury. An Equality Impact Assessment has been completed for the proposed new policy.

Given that there would be a phased introduction of the proposed policy changes to transport provided on faith grounds the maximum savings related to secondary schools would be realised from September 2015 and for primary schools from September 2017.  At current prices the proposals on faith transport would save a maximum of approximately £639,000 per annum from the academic year 2017/18.

Implementing the proposal on transport to Chiltern Edge School would, at current prices, save approximately £58,000 per annum from 2015/16.

Therefore at current prices the total possible savings per year amount to approximately £697,000 from 2017/18.

It is RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet approves the proposed new Home to School Transport Policy set out in Annex A to the attached report.

Cabinet considered a report setting out a proposed updated Home to School Transport Policy.

The Cabinet Member for Schools Improvement in introducing the report referred to an additional recommendation contained in the addenda that aimed to reduce the financial hardship of the proposed changes.

RESOLVED:             to approve the proposed new Home to School Transport Policy set out in Annex A to the attached report subject to the inclusion of the following provision:

'In recognition of the financial implications for larger families, the cost of concessionary fares on home to school transport will be waived for the third and subsequent children of families where they have more than two children using the same home to school transport service. This is in addition to the circumstances where, due to low income, concessionary fares are already waived'.