Agenda and minutes

*County Councillor Otter replaced County Councillor Perks for this meeting only.

Also in attendance:

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

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 3728 on the grounds that the appellant resided within her division and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant. County Councillor Prynn also declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 3728 on the grounds that the she had been appointed by the Local Authority as a Governor at the nearest school to the appellant.

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 19th January 2015 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 3552, 3587, 3675, 3713, 3719 and 3731 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 3552, 3587, 3675, 3713, 3719 and 3731, 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 20th April 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 20th April 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 26 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 3534

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 2.1 miles from their home address, and instead would attend their 8th nearest school which was 6.4 miles away.

The Committee recalled it had considered this appeal at its meeting in July 2014 and that the appeal had been refused. However, the Committee was informed that the mother had subsequently challenged some of the reasons the Committee had taken as set out in the decision letter as written by the Clerk to the Committee. The mother felt that if the Committee had made their decisions not to award travelling expenses on these facts then their decision could be flawed. The Council therefore felt that having reviewed the matter it would be appropriate for the mother to have a re-appeal so these facts could be addressed further.

The Committee considered the facts as challenged by the mother on the following basis:

·  Point a) – the decision letter in respect of the Committee's decision taken at its meeting in July 2014 stated there was no information in the appeal to indicate why the pupil's elder siblings had received free travel. The Committee noted that at that time they considered the appeal no evidence had been provided to substantiate the mother's claims or confirm the reasons why it was awarded. Furthermore, those appeals for the pupil's elder siblings were considered by the former officer led Student Support Appeals Panel prior to the politically balanced Committee being established in 2011 which now considers appeals for transport assistance. Whilst information had now been presented for this appeal as to how and why the pupil's elder siblings had been awarded free transport back in 2006 and 2008, the Committee felt that the reasons for appeal for this pupil were different and did not merit the Committee in exercising its discretion to award free transport that was not in accordance with the Council's Home to School Transport Policy.

·  Points b) and d) were considered simultaneously – Whilst the Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.