Agenda item

Home to School Transport Policy Implementation Update

Minutes:

Tom Smith, Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene, presented an update on the implementation of the new Home to School Transport Policy together with Martin Raper, Head of Service, Street Scene, and Fiona Featherstone, 14-19 SEN Adviser.

 

The revised Home to School Transport Policy was approved by the Cabinet and Commissioners’ Decision Making Meeting on the 16th April 2018 (Minute No. 134 refers). The changes included:

 

·           Publication of the Home to School Transport Policy 2018-19;

·           Introduction of the Home to School Transport Assessment Matrix;

·           The introduction of a formal annual review of transport provision which included engagement with families;

 

·           That an assessment of existing Service users be conducted to review their circumstances to enable participation on a voluntary basis ahead of the introduction of the formal annual review;

 

·           The introduction of a personal travel budget scheme to provide transport support to families of children with special educational needs and disabilities;

 

·           That post-16 transport travel arrangements be revised to replace direct transport as a first option with personal travel budgets for those students with special educational needs and disabilities;

 

·           The consideration of alternative methods of support for particular groups or individuals such as walking bus, cycle or moped schemes when appropriate;

 

·           The introduction of independent travel training as a central resource in Rotherham to support arrangements currently delivered by Special Schools for children from the age of 14+ to enable independence. That travel training be commenced from June 2018 for appropriate young people;

 

·           The personal travel budgets for all students making new applications for post-16 travel be instigated from 1st July 2018, and existing users of the post-16 service permitted to apply on a voluntary basis from 1st May;

 

·           That a transition period to validate the Transport Assessment Matrix would begin from 1st May 2018, with the full implementation of the Policy for all new applicants with effect from 1st July 2018;

 

·           That children and young people in need of home to school transport, and including transport operators, be engaged as part of the transition and implementation process;

 

·           Any decisions to amend the Transport Assessment Matrix, resulting from the transition period, to be delegated to the Assistant Director, Community Safety and Street Scene.

 

Following approval of the new Home to School Transport policy, the Transport Team had commenced completing the transport matrix for each new transport applicant.  This had been further developed following work with Children and Young Peoples Service’s (CYPS) Education Health Care Team. Following approval of an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) the Team would provide a completed Matrix to support the initial transport request.  Further work was programmed with special schools to enable completion in the future for those who were already being provided with transport.

 

The annual transport review process was to be undertaken at the same time as EHCP reviews and would assess the suitability of existing transport, and the ability to partake in Independent Travel Training. It was not normal practice for a CYPS or Transport Service representative to attend the reviews, as they were undertaken at schools and, therefore, required the support of individual schools with engagement having commenced. This was ongoing, with attendance at the Special Schools Heads meeting 17th October 2018.

 

Representatives of the Transport Team would attend to discuss the annual review process. The Service aimed to have a robust process for reviews in place in early 2019.

 

All transport applications were now being assessed in line with the Matrix with families being made aware of the options for transport including Personal Travel Budgets. Following the provision of a brochure in September 2018, detailing the choices for families, a number of families had expressed an interest in alternative transport options. The Personal Travel Budget was now a key part of options for families particularly for post-16 young people where it formed part of the initial application discussion.

 

To date the Service had received 30 expressions of interest with the following outcomes:

 

Of the 17 who already had existing transport:

·           2 had signed up to personal travel budgets

·           15 were currently under review

 

Of the 13 new post-16 starters:

·           8  had signed up to personal travel budgets

·           3 were currently under review

·           2 were not suitable

 

The Service had plans in place to discuss alternative methods of support for particular groups/individuals such as walking, bus, cycle, with the Parents’ Forum and Special School as the Policy was implemented further and would consider opportunities as they arose in particular circumstances.

 

The Service had considered a number of approaches with regard to travel training and had adopted a a collaborative approach with Special Schools where the Council would deliver training for trainers, and training for young people would then be delivered through school staff.

 

Delivery of the initial ‘train the trainer’ training would be with the support of Leeds City Council’s Independent Travel Training Team providing refresher training. The initial training was programmed for November and December 2018.

 

Further work was required to engage with transport operators outside of the Council and would take place over the coming months ahead particularly when a young person made the transition into public transport.

 

Authority for any amendments to the Transport Assessment Matrix had been delegated to the Assistant Director.    Review by colleagues in Transport and CYPS and had identified some clarifications in terms of the interpretation of the document and minor reference changes to descriptions. The Matrix had accordingly been approved by the Assistant Director and circulated to CYPS colleagues to provide the basis of the assessment following confirmation of an EHCP.

 

Discussion ensued on the report with the following issues raised/clarified:-

 

-          New applications were assessed against the matrix for post-16 transport

 

-          Information from those that worked with children and young people was fed into the matrix process that allowed officers to make an objective assessment. It would always be tempered by those that worked with the young people concerned.  Work was taking place with the schools so that they would complete a degree of the assessment themselves.

 

-          There was an appeals process

 

-          The independent travel training had not commenced as yet.  Work was taking place with schools to look at the training levels required for staff to support the initiative.  A survey had been conducted, in collaboration with Children’s Services, across all the schools that children with special educational needs attended to ascertain the level of need and what position they were in to be able to deliver the training

 

-          Leeds City Council could deliver train the trainer training across the 6 special schools initially this month.  This would then enable Rotherham to deliver training to its young people.  There was currently no provision within the Council to provide the training

 

-          The ethos of travel training was to support young people to live independently ultimately and equipping the young person for adulthood so they could travel without someone always having to take them

 

-          The special schools were really keen to travel train their own staff to deliver travel training as they could see the benefit to their young people

 

-          Once a decision was made on an application it was discussed with the family.  There was now more choice in the Policy such as personal travel budgets.  An annual review would take place where there would be further discussion about travel and consider the appropriateness for independent travel training, timing of how that might occur and how travel might look for the individual through their school life.  The Service very much wanted to move away from one service fitted all

 

-          Had contactless travel cards been discussed with SYPTE/bus companies?

 

-          The Policy(ies) was available on the Council’s website as well as the schools having an awareness of what services were offered.  For those who did not have access to a computer, a paper application form would be sent out to the home address

 

-          The definition of home to school transport was home to school.  Many of the transports offered were via a mini bus.  The way the Service was structured it was unable to offer tailored transport due to the number of children involved in the process

 

-          Had SYPTE recently changed their criteria for disabled persons’ travel passes?

 

-          Changes in the Policy would reduce the costs related to the current cohort of young people, estimated to be approximately £162,000 per annum.  However, that was in the context of increasing demand nationally in terms of this type of service.  It was known that the number of children with SEND was rising nationally which exerted more pressures on the Service.  There was a close working relationship with Children’s Services

 

-          Disability Living Allowance or PIP could not be taken into consideration at the present time when assessing applications for transport assistance as they were payment for wider family support and not home to school assistance

 

-          Concern regarding the appeal process and the lack of ability for an officer to allow a renewal of a home to school transport bus pass when the circumstances of that family had not changed from the previous year

-           

Resolved:-  (1)  That the report be noted.

 

(2)  That an update be submitted to the Select Commission in 6 months.

 

(3)  That the possibility of contactless cards be discussed with SYPTE/bus companies.

 

(4)  That the appeals process for the renewal of a home to school free bus pass be reconsidered in those cases where a family’s circumstances had not changed from the previous year.

Supporting documents: