Agenda item

10.10

Written notice has been given in accordance with the Council’s Scrutiny procedure rules requiring a decision of the Cabinet on 19 June 2018 to be called in for review by this Committee.

The following documents are attached:

(a) A report setting out the names of the Councillors who have required the Call In and the reasons given for the Call In.

(b) The report considered by the Cabinet.

(c) The extract of the minutes of the meeting where the decision was made.

(d) The recommendation to Cabinet from the Education Scrutiny Committee’s discussion of this item.

(e) Additional information provided in response to the Call In.

Councillor John Howson stood aside as a Substitute Member of the Committee for this item in order to represent the Education Scrutiny Committee in the discussion.

Councillor Emma Turnbull stated that there was a gap between the text of the policy stated and the verbal assurances given at the Cabinet meeting by the Director for Children’s Services, in particular that no child would fail to have a post-16 placement at an appropriate school or college because of transport costs.  Councillor Turnbull said that the policy should not be about the nearest available school place but should be about the appropriate placement for a child’s needs.  Applying the same rules as for mainstream transport is not being fair to children with Special Education Needs. She also expressed concern about the financial burden some families would face as a result of the policy change and that parental choice has been taken away as families are obliged to accept the SEN school place allocated to them.

Councillor John Howson, Vice-Chairman of the Education Scrutiny Committee outlined the reasons for the Call-in.  He stated that interpretations of the policy given by the relevant Director at the Cabinet discussion had not been available to the Education Scrutiny Committee when it discussed the policy.  Various funds were referred to as possible sources of funding for home to school transport but some were discretionary and limited or may be used already for respite care or after-school activities.  It was unclear what parents should do to access the various sources of funding.

Councillor Steve Harrod, Cabinet Member for Children and Family Services, stated that there had been poor communication on this highly contentious issue.  He had been originally against the proposals but on hearing the points made by the relevant officers he had changed his view.  The current policy had been interpreted generously but the Council could no longer afford that.  Some changes to the policy simply sought to state the rules more clearly.  Other changes were made to the way in which existing provision will be funded.  The costs of implementing the changes will be only marginal as most of the system is already in place.  He gave reassurances that no child would be left stranded as a result of the change in policy, but post-16 children would be able to apply for bursaries from their school or college to help their families meet the cost of transport.

A number of Members stated that they had been told by Headteachers that bursaries were being fully utilised already and if funds are drawn down for school transport then they will be diverted from other uses such as access to after-school clubs.  Concern was also expressed that, while £700 may seem a small amount to some, for many families it may be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back”.

Councillor Harrod, Lucy Butler, Clare Rowntree and Neil Darlington responded to Members’ questions as follows:

·         Currently if a child’s Education Health and Care Plan specifies a school, the Council will pay for transport there.  If a parent does not send their child to the nearest school the Council does not pay.  None of this will change.

·         The majority of post-16 SEND students can apply for bursaries to meet transport costs and it is envisaged that most will be successful.

·         There are already officers working with parents of SEND children and they have the capacity to deal with the issues arising out of the policy changes.

·         The changes will not come into effect until September 2019 and the Council will work out issues with schools in the meantime.

·         If parents are not successful accessing bursaries then the Council will assume the family needs assistance and look to fund the young person’s transport.  The Council has an obligation to ensure that everyone is treated equitably.

·         Central government does not provide funding to local authorities for home to school transport for post-16 students.  This Council has been providing funding anyway but can no longer afford to do so.

·         If parents get Universal Credit then the Council already funds the transport.

·         Council officers understand the extra stresses experienced by parents of SEND children and will support them in these changes to policy.  They are also working with special schools to understand the broader impacts of the policy change on them.

·         It is estimated that parents of around 240 post-16 children could contribute £700 to transport.  The rest of the £300,000 saving will be made by other measures such as more efficient route planning.

·         Additional money has been made available to fund 2 full time equivalent travel trainer positions who will work with 30 to 40 young people with SEND each year to ensure they can travel independently safely.

·         While free transport will only be provided to and from home addresses, officers will take special cases into account such as separated parents.

Councillor Michael Waine stated on behalf of the Education Scrutiny Committee that their comments were not referred to at the Cabinet discussion.  He believed that the proposals were overly bureaucratic.

Councillor John Howson stated that the Education Scrutiny Committee’s questions had not been satisfactorily answered.  There was still a great deal of confusion.  It appeared that parents would be faced with the prospect of paying for transport and hoping that they would be refunded from bursaries.

Following consideration, the Committee AGREED to refer the decision back to Cabinet on the grounds that insufficient information has been available on the impact of the proposals.

Summary of the Material Concerns

a)     There is insufficient information about the impact of the Policy change on the families of post-16 SEND children and on their education.

b)     The capacity of schools’ and colleges’ discretionary bursaries to fund additional requests for support with transport costs is not well understood, including whether this will divert funding from support to meet other needs of SEND children.

c)     There is a lack of clarity about the number of children expected to have their transport funded through bursaries and how this relates to the anticipated savings.

d)     The is insufficient information about the costs of implementing the Policy change and a breakdown of how the £300,000 saving will be achieved.

e)     The effect of the change on the Council’s duties in regard to participation of all post-16 students is not clear.