Agenda and minutes

Also in attendance:

Ms L Brewer, Solicitor, Legal Services, Office of the Chief Executive;

Mr G Halsall, Business Support Officer, Democratic Services, Office of the Chief Executive.

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.

County Councillor Prynn declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 3684 on the grounds that the appellant resided within her division and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant.

County Councillor Cheetham stated that she felt the interest she had declared at the last meeting was not a pecuniary interest and asked if this matter could be looked into. Given the nature of the query, the Clerk agreed to pursue the query and to provide a response to Councillor Cheetham.

Resolved: That; subject to any amendment in relation to County Councillor Cheetham's declaration of interest at the last meeting, the Minutes of the meeting held on the 3rd November 2014 be confirmed as an accurate record and be 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.

It was noted that the paperwork for appeals 3584, 3587 and 594441 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.

Resolved: That, appeals 3584, 3587 and 594441, as circulated to the Members of the Committee, be considered alongside other appeals at the meeting.

The next scheduled meeting of the Committee will be held at 10.00am on Monday 19th January 2015 in B15b, County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00am on Monday the 19th January 2015 in Room B15b, 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).

A report was presented in respect of 30 appeals against the decision of the County Council to refuse assistance with home to school transport. 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 2014/15, and the Policy in relation to the transport of pupils with Special Educational Needs for 2013/14.

Appeal 3546

It was reported that a request for transport assistance had initially been refused as the pupils would not be attending their nearest suitable school, which was 1 mile from their home address, and instead would attend their 10th nearest school (and 11th nearest school in the case of the younger sibling) which was 4.9 miles away.

In considering the appeal the Committee noted the upheaval the family had recently experienced, the affect this had on the pupils during their time at the previous school attended combined with the problems currently faced by that school and that the mother was determined for them to attend another school of the same faith in the area. In noting the reasons for transferring the pupils to the school now attended, the Committee was informed that their new school had had a transformative affect upon their wellbeing and education. However, the mother now found it difficult to fund the bus fares given the financial position they were now in.

The Committee acknowledged the disruption experienced at the pupils' previous school. However, this was an issue faced by all pupils who attend that school. The Committee noted that the mother had discussed the issue of transferring the younger sibling with their head of year. However, it was reported that when the Council contacted the head of year, no response had been provided to corroborate the mother's claims.

With regard to the pupils' current school, the Committee in noting the mother's desire for the siblings to receive a faith education was informed that there still remained a school of the same faith that could offer places for both siblings that was closer to the home address. The Committee noted the mother's findings in relation to the distances to the nearest faith school and the faith school attended. However, it was not clear how these measurements were determined. The Committee was informed that the Council, by law, had to measure distances using the shortest walking routes which could inevitably provide alternative and shorter routes than using road routes.

The Committee in considering the family's financial situation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.