To consider and respond to the recommendations of the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee made on 15 January 2014, following the call-in of Cabinet’s decision made on 19 December 2013.

THAT:    

the proposed responses to the recommendations of the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee as set out at Appendix 1 to the Report are agreed; and the original decision taken by Cabinet on 19 December 2013 is confirmed.

Following the call-in of Cabinet’s decision on 19 December 2013, the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 15 January 2014 agreed to recommend Cabinet to reconsider its decision, making the following 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.

The alternative options are for Cabinet to accept the recommendations of the General Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to reject them or decide on some alternative course.