Agenda and minutes

None

CC Y Motala

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.

None.

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 2nd December 2019 were confirmed as an accurate record and was signed by the Chair.

An item of urgent business may only be considered under this heading where, by reason of special circumstances to be recorded in the Minutes, the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency. Wherever possible, the Chief Executive should be given advance warning of any Member's intention to raise a matter under this heading.

None.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00am on the 2^nd March 2020 @ LCC, County Hall, Preston – Room CH1:01.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00am on the 16th March 2020 at County Hall, Preston.

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.

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.

(Not for Publication – Exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act, 1972.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Please note that due to the confidential nature of the information included in this report it will not be published on the website.

(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).

For each appeal the Committee was presented with a Schedule detailing the grounds for appeal with a response from Officers which had been shared with the relevant appellant.

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 2018/19, and the Policy in relation to the transport of pupils with Special Educational Needs for 2013/14.

Appeal 4699

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 10.25 miles from the home address, and over the statutory walking distance of over 3 miles and instead would attend a school which was 10.37 miles from the home address. The pupil was therefore not entitled to free transport in accordance with the Council's policy or the law.

The family were appealing to the Committee on the grounds that they had extenuating circumstances to warrant the Committee in exercising its discretion and award transport that was not in accordance with the Council's policy or the law.

The Committee noted the appellant was not appealing on financial, medical or educational continuity grounds.  The appellant states that the school attended by the pupil is the closest school by foot/walking distance.  The appellant states as noted by the committee that all the route is on rural roads and unsuitable for walking as the roads are not in a good state of repair and have no street lighting. 

The appellant states that the journey by bus would be the best option for the pupil as the bus stops outside their property, the appellant states that it seems silly not to allow the pupil a pass on this school bus.  The appellant states that they are currently driving the pupil to school and that transport assistance will be required for the pupil to travel with a bus pass from September 2019 till the pupil leaves the school attended or the family circumstances change.  The pupil is currently a year 9 pupil.

It was explained to the Committee, assessing a pupil's eligibility to receive transport assistance was a two part process.  Firstly, a pupil's nearest school, for transport assessment purposes, is determined.  This is the school that is closest to the pupil's home, measured by the shortest walking or road routes, as accepted by the County Council.  The safety of the route between home and school is only considered if a pupil is attending their nearest school.

The County Council has two bespoke packages of mapping software specifically purchased for the accuracy of measurements undertaken for both admissions and transport purposes.  Both  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.