To agree to commence a programme for a School Transport Operating Model that will provide evidence to inform the delivery of a clear, consistent, and efficient framework for delivering the council’s statutory home-to-school transport service.

That:

a)     Cabinet Member approves the implementation of a pilot programme for delivering school transport routes in partnership with Hoople, Herefordshire Council’s Local Authority Trading Company and;

b)     Cabinet Member delegates authority to the Chief Operating Officer of Resident Services to take all necessary actions and operational decisions, including but not limited to entering into contracts or other legal agreements, as required to implement this decision.

1.               Option 1: Continue with Fully Outsourced Transport Providers (Not recommended)

• Maintains existing contract model with local operators.
• No internal resource required.
• Limitations:

·        Market capacity, no ability to manage the market, price volatility

·        Limited control over driver training, behaviour management, and safeguarding standards

2.               Option 2: Insource all transport routes (Not Recommended at This Stage)

• Entire service operated through the council or its arms’ length company Hoople.
• Limitations:

·        Requires significant upfront investment

·        High risk without incremental testing

·        Lack of evidence on cost efficiency or scalability

3.               Preferred Option: Implementation of a programme for delivering school transport routes in partnership with Hoople, Herefordshire Council’s Local Authority Trading Company.

·        Supports a controlled and evidence-based approach

·        Allows comparative analysis of cost and savings, quality, and resilience.

·        Enables early assessment of workforce, compliance, and vehicle management processes.