Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To answer any public questions.

A period of 30 minutes will be allowed for members of the public to ask questions submitted under notice.

The Council welcomes questions from members of the public about the work of this committee.

Subject to meeting certain timescales, questions can relate to general issues concerned with the work of the Committee or an item which is on the Agenda for this meeting.  For full details of the procedure for submitting questions please contact the Democratic Services Section on the numbers given below or go to www.wokingham.gov.uk/publicquestions

There were no public questions.

To answer any member questions.

There were no Member questions.

To receive and consider a report and related annexes in relation to the proposed revised Home to School Transport Policy.

The Chairman, Councillor Mickleburgh made the following statement:

“I am Councillor Andrew Mickleburgh, the Committee Chair. The committee consists of elected Councillors and community representatives. The role of Overview and Scrutiny is to provide rigorous, independent, “critical friend” challenge and to work with the Council’s Executive and other public service providers for the benefit of the public. The Committee considers submissions from a range of sources, and reaches conclusions and makes recommendations to the Executive based on the weight of evidence – not on party political grounds.”

Helen Watson, Interim Director for Children’s Services explained that the policies discharged the statutory and discretionary powers and responsibilities in relation to school and college transport assistance available for people up to the age of 25, both with and without additional needs. 

The Council last undertook a review in 2021.  However, the number of children and the cost of providing this assistance have risen.  The Council must now review its policies to ensure that those who need assistance the most continue to receive the support they need, in line with the resources available.

Zoe Storey, School Admissions and Transport Manager presented the Home to School Transport – Revised Policy report.  She shared a presentation and the following points were highlighted:

·           Home to school transport was a complex area which involved working with different departments across the Council;

·           The home to school transport budget had come under a lot pressure in recent years due to many factors, including a significant rise in the number of pupils being identified as having Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and who were eligible to home to school transport assistance;

·           Mitigating measures were needed to address the challenges in the budget;

·           The challenges in relation to transport for mainstream schools and for SEND children were different;

·           There was a rise in the number of children with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP), consequently increasing the number of children who needed assistance with home to school transport;

·           The increase in complexity in the cases of children with EHCPs was a contributing factor to the rise in expenditure, with a need for more specialist medical transport and associated support staff;

·           Other challenges included a reduced pool of providers that the Council could contract out, minimum wage increases and higher fuel costs, amongst other factors;

·           Providers were currently charging 20% more than last year, putting the Council in a difficult position to provide the service;

·           The report contained the details of the proposed changes.  The three key changes were:

o   Post-16 provision – the national guidance is that Councils do not have to provide free transport to children from 16 to 19, or to make available a fee-paying service provision. It was proposed that the policy is updated to align with the national guidance, removing the fee-paying service.  For SEND pupils who qualify for travel assistance, and in order to encourage independent travel, a personal travel budget was being proposed.

o   Travel assistance for under 5s – there is no statutory  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.