Agenda and minutes

Also in attendance:

Ms L Brewer, Solicitor, Legal and Democratic Services;

Mr G Halsall, Business Support Officer, Legal and Democratic Services; and

Mrs I Winn, Business Support Officer, Legal and Democratic Services.

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 Dereli declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 3946 on the grounds that she had recently met a relative of the pupil but confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant. County Councillor Dereli also declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 3886 on the grounds that the appellant resided within her division and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant.

County Councillor Prynn declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 3917 on the grounds that the appellant resided within her division and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant.

County Councillor Cheetham declared a non pecuniary interest in relation to appeal 3948 on the grounds that the she had been appointed by the Local Authority as a Governor at the school attended and confirmed that she had no other association with the appellant.

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 7th November 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 appeal 98182 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 it.

Resolved: That, appeal 98182 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 Tuesday 8^th December 2015 in Room B15b, County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00am on Tuesday the 8th December 2015 in Room B15b, 1st Floor 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 29 appeals and 1 urgent business appeal 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 2015/16, and the Policy in relation to the transport of pupils with Special Educational Needs for 2013/14.

Appeal 3766

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 0.9 miles from their home address, and instead would attend their 2nd nearest school which was 2.3 miles away. Both schools were within statutory walking distance. The pupil was therefore not entitled to free transport in accordance with the Council's policy or in 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.

In considering the appeal the Committee was advised by the mother that the pupil suffered health problems which affected their ability to walk distances and that it took the pupil over an hour to walk to school due to the need to stop on a frequent basis. The Committee noted that the pupil had been referred for treatment in relation to this and also noted the pupil's other health problems that they had been diagnosed with. Whilst the Committee acknowledged the mother's point no medical evidence had been supplied by the mother to substantiate the pupil's mobility problems. The Committee could therefore not determine the full extent of the pupil's health problems in relation to their ability to walk the distance to school and back.

In considering the mother's appeal further the Committee noted the family's circumstances and that the pupil had previously attended their nearest school but left due to that school going in to special measures. The Committee noted that an elder sibling who was studying for their GCSEs remained at the nearest school. Whilst the Committee noted the reasons for the transfer, there was no information provided as to how the two younger siblings travelled to school and whether or not there was any family support who could assist with the school run. In addition there was no information in relation to the father.

In considering the family's financial circumstances there was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.