Home to School Travel Policy Consultation

The Council has a statutory duty to make necessary travel arrangements for eligible children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

Working with Bury2gether, a series of engagement sessions have been held with parents and carers during January 2024 to understand the barriers families may be facing with the existing home to school transport policy and to consider how we can better support young people and their families.

We have co-produced a new home to school travel policy with Bury2gether taking into consideration the key themes emerging from the engagement sessions and the Department for Education’s revised guidance on travel to school for children of compulsory school age.

The key changes to the policy include:

• Clearly explaining the forms of travel assistance that may be offered to eligible children and young people. These include mileage reimbursement, personal travel budgets, transport, travel passes and independent travel training.
• Clarifying the Council’s statutory duty in relation to pre-school age children, 5-16 year olds, post 16 provision and adult learners (post 19).
• Realigning the assessment for travel assistance with the current Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) process where appropriate.
• Simplifying the process for a change in circumstances (change of address, school, or the child/young person’s individual needs).
• Providing additional flexibility for transport wherever possible to accommodate timetable changes or changes to the school day.

We would like to invite you to submit your views on the proposed policy by completing an online survey (https://forms.office.com/e/AAk8i7gAzZ)

Please tell us about your views by Friday 5 April 2024. Following the end of the consultation period a report will be presented to the Council’s Cabinet members on 17 April 2024.