To review the Cabinet decision on Changes to Herefordshire Schools and Post 16 Transport Policy.

Councillors Harvey, Swinford and Seldon outlined their grounds for call in which are listed in the agenda.

The Director for Children’s Wellbeing and Head of Education Development gave a presentation which is attached to the minutes.

In response to questions from Members in attendance:

•        The Director clarified that the council is not forcing parents to change the decision of where they send their children, but parents will need to decide whether they can afford to send their child to the school which they chose.  There is work underway to look at all the methods in which the costs to parents can be reduced via a range of different methods as outlined in presentation.  It was stressed that the proposals in connection with post 16 SEN travel was not for full cost recovery but for a contribution and that the council understands that each student will have different needs.  The Council is looking at all bursaries which are available.

•        Head of Transportation and Access confirmed that the transport teams are now integrated and that work is in progress to offer a wider range of services from September 2014.  The Council will be talking to headteachers and operators about these.

•        Head of Education Development explained that the budget savings assumptions were based on Herefordshire losing 40% of affected children rather than 100% to out of county schools as it was felt unreasonable to assume that all parents would decide to send their children to the nearest school which was outside of Herefordshire.  He also explained that Herefordshire did import students from other counties as well.

•        Cabinet Member for Young People and Children’s Wellbeing explained that partnership working between the Council, schools and parents already happens and cited John Kyrle High School and Sixth Form College as an example.  The Director for Children’s Wellbeing said that there should be a commitment to working together which strives to achieve a combined transport policy which is beneficial to all.

•        The Director for Children’s Wellbeing explained that there were two different bursaries which were available to post 16 SEN pupils.  One was individual and the other needed to be applied through the relevant school.  The budget for this type of funding, which could include assistance with post 16 SEN transport had transferred to school sixth forms and colleges.  The awarding of bursaries was based on individual need.  A right of appeal would remain in place for those parents who cannot afford the travel costs.  The Director also confirmed that work needed to be done to ensure that parents were aware of these bursaries and identifying appropriate support.  The Director suggested that the committee look at the range of bursaries available as part of their work programme.

•        The Head of Education Development confirmed that the school transport and Post 16 SEN transport policies operated by other local authorities were looked at.  He acknowledged that it was unfortunate that inaccurate information was presented in connection with the policies in operation in Worcestershire, however, the proposals were not based on what one local authority did and that Worcestershire was not a fair comparison as they have a different school tier system to Herefordshire.

•        The option of nearest in county school only had been looked at but had been dismissed given the risk of legal challenge.

•        The Head of Education Development gave assurances that responses to the first phase of post 16 SEN consultation had been taken into account.  It was unfortunate that during the first phase of consultation that the council website had experienced problems.  However, the website was operational throughout the full consultation.

•        The Head of Transportation and Access confirmed that the Local Transport Plan Policy 2012/15 did cover the Sustainable Modes of Transport Strategy for schools but acknowledged that it was not explicitly stated.  The Council’s Solicitor confirmed that the Council was probably already compliant with the relevant legislation, however the policy would need to be altered slightly in order to make it clear that it did include schools.

•        The Head of Education Development confirmed that whilst the booklet for school admissions did not contain any reference to the consultation, the website and the information which parents had to download did have information in relation to it.  Cllr Harvey said that adjacent local authorities would not be giving any special dispensations due to changes in Herefordshire policy.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1.       That the Executive puts in place measures to ensure that all parents are given guidance and support by the council, working with colleges and schools to maximise access to new funding and bursaries to offset the impact of this decision.

2.       That General Overview and Scrutiny Committee establishes a task and finish group to look into whether the council, schools and colleges need to review the use of bursaries and the provision of information for applicants to those bursaries.

3.       That Cabinet strongly reconsiders amending the policy decision to include the choice of ‘nearest school in-county’ as per the Durham Council model.

4.       That the Cabinet Member reviews and reconsiders the potential full cost impact of this decision.

5.       That officers hold urgent meetings with the schools which may be the most impacted, their local transport providers, community transport providers and local ward cluster Members to determine the potential full impact of this decision and, through working together, identify mitigation measures to minimise these effects.

6.       In the light of this Administration's prioritisation of vulnerable people, we recommend that paragraph (e) of the Cabinet decision be deleted and replaced by a requirement to introduce a suitable formula to provide free or primarily subsidised transport according to both need and means for post 16-year pupils with special educational needs.

7.       That linkage is clearly communicated between the Local Transport Plan and a Sustainable Modes of Transport Strategy for Schools to ensure compliance with the council’s statutory duties.

8.       In the event that Cabinet decides to proceed with the original decision, that its implementation shall be changed to be September 2015 and not September 2014 to give appropriate notice to patents undertaking high school transfer.

9.       The time provided by Recommendation 8 shall be used to demonstrate the improvements that can be made with a more integrated approach to transport commissioning and management.