Agenda and minutes

*County Councillor Stanfield 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.

No disclosures of interests were made at the meeting.

Resolved: That; the Minutes of the meeting held on the 9th March 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 3764, 3771, 3772 and 574700 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 3764, 3771, 3772 and 574700, 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 Thursday 3rd September 2015 in Room B15b, 1^st Floor, County Hall, Preston.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Committee would be held at 10.00am on Thursday the 3rd September 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 18 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 3745

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 0.3 miles from their home address, and instead would attend their 27th nearest school which was 4.5 miles away.

In considering the appeal the Committee recalled the family's house moves and the mother's health problems along with the reasons for wanting the pupil to remain at the school attended. The Committee also recalled that it had previously awarded temporary transport to the pupil.

The Committee noted that the family had moved to a cheaper housing association property. The Committee also noted that as the family were on a low income they were struggling to fund travel expenses.

However, in considering the appeal further the Committee noted that after it had awarded free transport for the remainder of the 2014/15 academic year, the mother decided to utilise the award by using her mobility car to take the pupil to and from school in return for a transport allowance from the Council. From the previous address where transport was awarded from the school attended was 1.6 miles away, whereas from the new address it was 4.5 miles away. The Committee in noting these points also noted the mother's claims in respect of the family's outgoings to run their mobility car. The Committee felt that the cost of running their mobility car through the Motability scheme was significantly high. However, no evidence had been provided by the mother to substantiate why it cost so much to run their mobility car when the hire payments which normally included routine maintenance, insurance, renewal of vehicle excise duty (car tax) and breakdown cover for it would be met by the mother's qualifying benefits.

Furthermore, it was reported that the Council could offer the pupil a place at their nearest school which was 0.3 miles away from their new home. Therefore, having considered all of the mother's comments and the officer responses as set out in the Appeal Schedule, application form and supplementary evidence the Committee was not persuaded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.