Agenda and minutes

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Venue: CH1: 01 County Hall, Preston

Contact: Hina Visavadia  Email:  appeals@lancashire.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

None.

Minutes:

None.

2.

Disclosure of Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests

Members are asked to consider any Pecuniary and Non-Pecuniary Interests they may have to disclose to the meeting in relation to matters under consideration on the Agenda.

Minutes:

None.

3.

Minutes of the meeting held on 1st of July

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 1st July be confirmed as an accurate record and be signed by the Chair.

 

Minutes:

Resolved: That; the minutes of the meeting held on the 1st of July 2019 were confirmed as an accurate record and were signed by the Chair.

4.

Urgent Business

It was noted that the paperwork for appeals 4646 had only been finalised after the agenda had been circulated. As a result, the Chair had been consulted and had agreed that these appeals could be presented to the meeting under urgent business in order to avoid any delay in determining them.

 

Minutes:

4646, 4689, 4701, 4704, 4705.

5.

Date of the Next Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00am on the 7th October in the County Secretary and Solicitors Group Training and Meeting Room in the Office of the Chief Executive, Christ Church Precinct (1st Floor) at County Hall, Preston.

Minutes:

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10 am on the 8th October at County Hall, Preston.

6.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The Committee is asked to consider whether, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, it considers that the public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following item of business on the grounds that there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972 as indicated against the heading of the item and that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.

Minutes:

Resolved: That the press and public be excluded from the meeting under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, during consideration of the following item of business as there would be a likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the appropriate paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972, as indicated against the heading of the item.

 

7.

Student Support Appeals

(Not for Publication – Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.  It is considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interests in disclosing the information).

 

Please note that due to the confidential nature of the information included in this report it will not be published on the website.

Minutes:

(Note: Reason for exclusion – exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972. It was considered that in all the circumstances of the case the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information).

 

In considering each appeal the Committee examined all of the information presented and also had regard to the relevant policies, including the Home to Mainstream School Transport Policy for 2019/20, and the Policy in relation to the transport of pupils with Special Educational Needs for 2013/14.

 

Appeal 4577

It was reported that a request for transport assistance had initially been refused as the pupil would not be attending their nearest suitable school, which was 3.38 miles from the home address, but was attending the school of parental preference which was 3.91miles away from the home address.  The pupil was therefore not entitled to free transport in accordance with the Council's policy or the law. The appellant was appealing to the Committee on the grounds that they had extenuating circumstances to warrant the Committee exercising its discretion and award transport that was not in accordance with the Council's policy or the law.

The appellant stated, as noted by the Committee, they were appealing on medical grounds.  The pupil has suffered from health issues since the age of 4 years old.  The pupil had extensive surgery previously and was due some more surgery. The appellant described how the pupil's health issues made them vulnerable to danger near traffic and was unable to safely cross roads without assistance.  The school bus collected and dropped off inside the school grounds). 

The Committee noted the appellants stated the pupil was cautious when undertaking activities with their peers and getting the bus to school had encouraged them to be independent and made them feel less different from their fellow pupils.  However, their concern about the upcoming surgery and worsening of their condition were affecting that sense of independence and they were worried about not getting a bus pass anymore.

The pupil attended the school of parental preference, as noted by the Committee, as that was the school named on their Statement. Their younger sibling also attended the same school and would be able to help the pupil if they had any difficulties on route.  The appellant stated the family lived over 3 miles from any high school and the school attended by the pupil was 0.7 miles further away from the nearest school that all children would receive transport for.

The appellant stated, as noted by the Committee, that until September 2018, the pupil had a school bus pass provided by SEND.  The pupil had always had a SEN statement and the school had helped with the pupil's progress but the appellant felt this progress had worked against the pupil as it had contributed to their SEN Statement now being changed for a school support programme.  The appellant said they were told by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.